1 Peter 2:19-24 For grace is clearly at work when a person accepts undeserved pain and suffering and does so because he is mindful of God. For what credit is there in enduring punishment you deserve? But if you do what is right and yet are punished and endure it patiently, God will be pleased with you. For you were called to this kind of life, as Isaiah said, He did no wrong deed, and no evil word came from His mouth. The Anointed One suffered for us and left us His example so that we could follow in His steps. When He was verbally abused, He didn’t return the abuse; when He suffered, He didn’t make threats to cause suffering in return; instead, He trusted that all would be put right by the One who is just when He judges. He took on our sins in His body when He died on the cross so that we, being dead to sin, can live for righteousness. As the Scripture says, “Through His wounds, you were healed.” 1 Peter 2:19-24 The Voice

We Deserve To Be Treated Better

Many times, in this life, we get hurt by others. The human condition, it kind of stinks at times. The family hurts seem to cut the deepest. We think we deserve to be treated better than we were and we get wounded in our souls. We get overlooked by those we think should honor us, appreciate us and it hurts. These personal hurts run deeply into our soul and they affect us, they affect our attitudes, motives and our choices. We back away from others, we close off our souls to those closest to us because we don’t want to feel the pain of rejection again. It is not fun, not being loved well, especially when we have loved well. We think things should be different because we have given much and not being honored like we think we should have been, like we think we deserved, we get bitter and isolate ourselves. Most of our thoughts in matters like these are probably assumptive, this is the devils best work.

Personal Hurts And Rejections

When you look at Jesus’ life, it puts all these personal hurts and rejections in Kingdom Perspective and helps us to wholly-holy align our lives with His way, truth and mission once again. It is easy to close off your heart to others, it is hard to walk the narrow road, like Jesus did, the road to Golgotha. We did not deserve what Jesus did for us. He came to us, this King of Heaven and we rejected Him. We did not fully appreciate the sacrifice He made. Jesus loved us even though it hurt and He stayed on mission for us, even though He was personally rejected and betrayed by humanity.

Rejection With A Kiss

Jesus laid out His whole life for us on playing field of this world. Jesus still reaches for us in that incredible way of His Love, a devotion for us that never quits and continues to abundantly give all. Yet, Jesus was probably the most rejected man who ever walked this earth. A huge denunciation that started with a betrayal from his close, personal friend, a disciple who betrayed him with a kiss. Being betrayed is a really ugly thing but being betrayed with the kiss of a friend is so terribly hurtful. The refutation Jesus felt got even worse and ended up with his closest disciples failing Him, false accusations from people he had served and a death sentence He was not guilty of. Humanity was not good to Jesus, yet He is still here. Jesus is still loving us, His heart still wide open to us. Rejection, false accusations, betrayal did not stop the love coming from His wide-open heart, not even crucifixion on a cross, dying for our sins, paying our life ransom, none of these things changed His heart towards us. He is still reaching for us today with the farthest reach ever, a totally unconditional love that forgot everything our human condition did to Him.

Disappointed And Overlooked

Jesus does not put up a wall and isolate Himself when He is dishonored. He does not let the disappointment of being overlooked by the people of this world keep Him from loving them. We have full access to the mind, soul and spirit of Jesus. You think that He would withdraw His favor from us imperfect people, but He doesn’t. He is still devoted to us even though we take Him for granted, we don’t give Him the honor that is due Him, and we overlook Him for other things. Jesus keeps loving us. There is no greater love. There is no better example to model our lives after.

Psalm 81:10 I am the Eternal, your True God. I liberated you from slavery, led you out from the land of Egypt. If you open your mouth wide, I will fill it.

Retracted And Closed Heart

When I get hurt or disappointed, my flesh wants to retract, my heart closes, my soul grieves alone and I withhold love because I don’t want to be hurt again. We are most vulnerable to those closest to us, especially our family members, those we do life with. When someone that close to us hurts us, there is that temptation to close our hearts, to change the design that God shaped us to be and to live from the outward in, instead of the inside-out. Open your heart wide to God and He will fill it with His Truth. The Holy Spirit of God will speak truth to your heart and His truth will set you forever free from the bait of offense, the bitterness of hurt and the disappointment of people. Why? Because Jesus, His way, truth and life is enough to cover over the sins of others and give us the strength to forgive and forget.

The Broad Path Of Life

It is easier and less vulnerable to put up a shield over our heart and we decide who gets close, we protect ourselves from hurt, we live from the outward in. Living from the inside out, your heart is wide open. You receive from God, and you pay it all forward. You live as a giver no matter what the cost, without looking for any return. This is what Jesus did. He gave it all, unconditionally. He lived from the inside out. This kind of living can’t be done by our own will power, we have to be connected to the power of God to live like Jesus lived and to love like Jesus loved. Heart to heart with Jesus, we will know His passions for others and Spirit to spirit with Jesus in vital-vertical relationship with Him, we will hear His mind, know His thoughts of love towards all people and be able to clearly follow Him, being a servant just like He is.

Isolation The Enemies End Game

People let us down, people disappoint us, people don’t love us well, people overlook us on our special days, people don’t honor us, people don’t respect our lives, people are just not interested in people anymore. Why? Because the little hurts that close doors in our hearts keep happening until our whole heart is closed off, isolated from others. We are protecting ourselves from the vulnerability of being hurt and we are not trusting God with our heart. This is the endgame of our enemy and our enemy wins as we begin isolating ourselves from God and others.

Conditional Giving

Many of the times, the people that overlook us are the ones we serve the most. We don’t deserve to be ignored, because we have invested much in their lives. This is how the human condition works. We give to get. We give conditionally. We are subconsciously seeking a reward. We think the ones that we have sacrifice for the most, are the ones who should never overlook us and should give honor when honor is due on special days. Truly though, giving needs to be given from an open heart where God pours in and we pour out. The truth is, that our relationship with God becomes our gift and we no longer need a reward because we do what we do unto God alone.

Respectable And Honorable Discourse

What happens when we have those times in our walk with God that the Person we feel most overlooked by is God? What do we do with that? What do we do with those feelings? How do we deal with them respectfully with an honorable discourse? What do we do when it seems God is not hearing us and we feel disappointed? What happens when God is not answering our prayers and we feel rejected? It is so hard when we don’t understand why we are suffering and He is not answering us. He could make a way for us and we know He could. Sometimes we even feel as if He is punishing us for some reason. We have to go back to the Word of God, to the truth. There is always answers, solutions and promises to hold on to, so we can wait responsibly with trust and hope in God.

Disrespect And Doubt Is Fellowship With Sin

What do you do with those ill feelings when you know God has had every opportunity to do so, to take you out of the situation that is so hard to bear, but He does not take those openings? All you hear is silence between you and God and all you have left is wondering why? When our why questions are backed by attitudes of disrespect and doubt, we will feel the lack of God’s Presence, because God doesn’t fellowship with sin. These are the hardest times of growth in our relationship with God. When we don’t understand what He is doing or why He is not doing, we must keep our heart open and trust Him, even when all we see is nothing like what we have believed God for. God’s heart is always wide-open towards us and it is during these times, where understanding is our main focus, that we must trust God’s heart towards us. God has not changed, we have. Get into the Word of God during these times of misunderstanding. The Living Word of God is really good at propping up our soul, kicking out doubt and ushering in faith, a faith that believes even when it doesn’t see.

Trust God ~ Be Open Hearted To God

Do you truly trust God? Read this again, mediate on every word, let it run over and over in your mind until your soul says, it is well, my trust of God is good and my heart is wide open to Him. Read it with an open heart toward God and see if it doesn’t change or transform your thinking and heal your heart hurts by refocusing a worldly viewpoint to a kingdom perspective:

For grace is clearly at work when a person accepts undeserved pain and suffering and does so because he is mindful of God. For what credit is there in enduring punishment you deserve? But if you do what is right and yet are punished and endure it patiently, God will be pleased with you. For you were called to this kind of life, as Isaiah said, He did no wrong deed, and no evil word came from His mouth. The Anointed One suffered for us and left us His example so that we could follow in His steps. When He was verbally abused, He didn’t return the abuse; when He suffered, He didn’t make threats to cause suffering in return; instead, He trusted that all would be put right by the One who is just when He judges. He took on our sins in His body when He died on the cross so that we, being dead to sin, can live for righteousness. As the Scripture says, “Through His wounds, you were healed.” 1 Peter 2:19-24 The Voice

Stay Open Hearted To God

Don’t close your heart because you have been hurt, keep it wide open to God and trust God with your heart. He is able to keep it, He is able to heal it, He is able to equip you to be what He has shaped you to be. Keep your focus on your future and hope in God, stay undivided in your heart and open hearted in trust of Him.

Family living takes a lot of God wisdom. I hope you enjoyed this bite of wisdom from God on The Family Table in The Bridegroom’s Café. Being in the Word of God daily is the best way you can be an incredible family member that blesses and encourages your family. I highly suggest you purchase a copy of: “The Bridegroom’s Voice” and start your daily God Adventure as you journey with Jesus, listening up to His Voice. Please make sure you help me out by sharing this post with other families by using the social media share buttons below. I would love to hear from you. Leave an encouraging comment that will bless others. God bless you MUCH, KimberlyMac