rejection…

the apostle paul is in prison and he is lonely and he is writing his 2nd letter to timothy.  and in chapter 4 he give us some thoughts on how to deal with loneliness.  a lot of times we bring loneliness upon ourselves.  but it’s the uncontrollable kind that we’re looking at here on the front porch.

first of all paul shows us 4 causes of loneliness.  you can go back and look at transitions, separation and opposition.  and then there is rejection.  when you feel you’ve been betrayed, forsaken, abandoned.

paul felt deserted.  when things got tough everybody deserted him.  he went for his defense before nero and he said in verse 16 (niv), at my first defense no one came to my support.  here’s one of the greatest CHRISTians in history, no one came to his support.  but everyone deserted me.  paul goes on trial; no one is going to speak up in his defense.  everybody copped out.  you don't see any pity party.  paul doesn’t say, “i’ve spent thirty years in the ministry and this is what i get?”

rejection is the most devastating form of hurt.  the bible teaches that we have emotional needs.  one of our greatest emotional needs is the need to be accepted.  when that need is not fulfilled, when that need is violated, the bible calls that sin.  rejection, when you feel like everybody is going against you.  i think that’s why divorce is so painful.  i think that’s why GOD hates adultery.  It’s a rejection.

loneliness is so painful that people will try anything to relieve it.  they take drugs, they get drunk.  they go to a computerized dating service.  you name it!  i heard about one guy who went to a psychiatrist and asked for a split personality so he would have somebody to live with.

just a thought from the front porch…