Let’s be honest, each of us wants others to love, respect, and accept us. But when people are unready or unwilling to change or haven’t experienced the joy and fulfilment in Christ that you have, you will often experience rejection. Indeed, when you follow Jesus, rejection is guaranteed. What should you do? Here is what Jesus told His disciples to do: ‘In whatever place you enter a house, stay there till you depart from that place. And whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them…So they went out and preached that people should repent. And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them’ (vv. 10-13 NKJV). When their circumstances change tomorrow, some of those who reject you today will be open and ready to receive what you have to share. People fear what they don’t understand, and some even fight against it. So when you bump into people who ‘will not receive you nor hear you’, love them, pray for them, shake it off, and move forwards. Don’t allow those who are not ready to receive what you have to share keep you from taking it to those who are ready. One of Paul’s first converts in Macedonia was Lydia. Note what the Bible says: ‘The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul…she and her household were baptised’ (Acts 16:14-15 NKJV). Try to remember this: you are the messenger, and the Lord is the ‘heart opener’. Do your part, and He will do His.

© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.