Marlin: No, of course I like you. It's because I like you I don't want to be
with you. It's a complicated emotion. (Finding Nemo)
How would you respond if you were Dory? Is it not a bit confusing? Marlin's statement is contradictory. The usual notion is that, when we like someone, we want to be with them. Our liking to a person is synonymous to our spending time with him or her. But because we are complicated beings & very inconsistent at times, we tend to say one thing but mean something else or the worst is that we say something but our actions don't match. I will not fail to mention that we are fallen. We fell into sin. And therefore, our tireless efforts can never contribute to the aching in one's heart because the work of our hands is never enough.
Devastated. That's what one feels in rejection. It is a difficult place to be at. The place of nonacceptance, of not belonging, of being not-good-enough (or at times, too good to be true) or simply being taken for granted. It is a sad and a painful lot to bear when the person who rejected you had promised he wouldn't. Maybe it was unintentional or probably circumstantial. Maybe he was left with no choice. Whatever the reason, to be left in the place of being rejected is heart breaking.
And yes, people may not realize this but all of us had been rejected, one time or another. And pieces of our lives, our hearts scatter around as we try to put our old self together, stand up and start over again. The process is not always easy. It was never easy. But it will always be worth it. To pick up the pieces of a life or a heart shattered to be restored again in a more precious state than ever. I guess the beauty will not be in its wholeness but in its brokenness and fragility. There is beauty in brokenness. It is not easy to find it but when one does, its like finding something you can be thankful for every day. And yet, whether we admit it or not, we have rejected somebody else, too. We might have caused pain to another human being with or without our intentions. But there is somebody else we never usually think we reject but we do.
I am a Bible-believing Christian. I believe that the Word of God not only gives us Laws but more than the Law are the stories. Stories of people from virtually all walks of life in the Bible told in a different light. In the Scriptures I read the stories of people who are the most unlikely candidate for a chosen nation, who have the most unqualified persons in history who ever lived and they were part of Jesus' lineage. They are not very-nice people. Yet God chose them; accepted them; loved them; cared for them; preserved them; protected them. And we read from the Scriptures how time and again, these people commit sin- they do not acknowledge the Lord and they turn to idols. But when they are in trouble, they remember the Lord and call on them. How many times do they do this? It's countless. And yet, countless times, the Lord comes to their aid and rescues them. And then the whole cycle begins again. Can you imagine the pain they caused the Lord? And the truth is, we, too, are very much like them. And yet the Lord never stops to care. He never tires of waiting for us to come back. He picks us up no matter how broken we are as soon as we let Him. He restores the pieces of our lives to make it whole again. And only He has the power to do that.
When I refuse to let the Lord work His way in me, am i not rejecting His Lordship? When i refuse to obey His commands, am i not rejecting His Laws? When i doubt His promises and take matters into my own hand, am i not rejecting His power? Every day and unaware, we reject the Lord in one way or another. But the beautiful thing is that the Lord never gets devastated by our rejection. (It doesn't mean we should keep on doing it though. There is justice.) The beautiful thing is that we are always given a chance to start over; to obey again; to listen again; to love again; to trust again. That's grace in its truest sense. Giving something to someone who never deserved it in the first place. Pastor Mark Driscoll puts this in simple words. He said, "We deserve hell. Everything else is a gift. And that's a lot of gifts." I could never agree more.
But wait. Here's more. We are never alone in our suffering. We have the One who has suffered on our behalf more than 2000 years ago and was tempted in every way praying for us, mediating for us, standing on our behalf as we live our lives day after day after day. And He never changes. He understands. He's been through it and He will go through it with you for He is Emmanuel, God with us, ever present, ever loving, ever powerful God. What more could one ask for?
So go ahead, pick up the pieces and let Him have it. He shall make something more beautiful out of it. He shall mend your heart and restore your joy. He promised. And His promises are never broken. Take heart. You are on your way to healing. Smile again.
