The Wounds of Rejection.
1 Sam 16:10: Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, “The LORD has not chosen these.”
This week, I listened to Dr Dharius Daniels the lead pastor of Change Church on a topic he titled: “Infection from Rejection.”
Dr. Dharius preached from the book of 1 Samuel, Chapter 16 which narrates the story of David’s call by God from a dejected shepherd boy to a King. The Lord had rejected Saul as the leader of His people and has selected a son in the housed of Jessy an in 1 Sam 16: 1, he commands Samuel: Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons.”
It is hard to imagine what each of Jessy’s seven children went through. Eliab the firstborn is said to be a man so well put together that when Samuel saw him, he thought that he was the one God had chosen, only for the Lord to reprimand him. “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
Eliad faced a first hand rejected for a position he had never even asked for. The other five brothers must have received the news that Prophet Samuel had come to anoint a King and each one of them must ha groom himself and look his best before being summoned by Jessy.
But alas, when Samuel had seen all the six of them, the Lord revealed to him that there must have been one more. When Samuel saw Shammah, the sixth son he said: “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” 11 And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all the young men here?” Then he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the sheep.”
And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him. For we will not sit down till he comes here.” 12 So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with bright eyes, and good-looking. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!” 1 Sam 16:9-11
It is possible that even Jessy had underrated David because he was the youngest. It must have been even harder for David to believe what was going on. He had lived as an outcast in the family as he cites in Ps. 69: 8 I have become a stranger to my brothers, And an alien to my mother’s children. Yet he was the chosen one.
Dr. Dharius explains that rejection is a symptom of past hurts and pains and that it manifests in many ways and mostly in personality types. It is a tool the enemy uses to wound the soul causing deep internal bleeding finally killing the person’s faith and identity. Dr Dharious says “A cut may not kill you, but the infection will.”
From the wounds of rejection, some people become cold-hearted refusing to love and to accept love, others self-centered, selfish and angry. The opposite is having people-pleasing traits and low self-esteem which makes people overextend themselves to please others to gain their acceptance and love.
Dr Dharius underlines that Christians ought not to be surprised when rejected for even Jesus, the son of God, the most perfect, kind, giving, loving even unto death was rejected. However, they must seek the Lord for healing for Christ was rejected on their behalf.
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs. And carried our sorrows. (Is 53:3-4).
David came in as a last result even to his own father . Believers need to trust the Lord in all things because he does not make a mistake. It does not matter if you are the last to walk through the door. When the oil of anointing is upon you, the Lord will pull you from the bushes to be the position he has for you. When David appeared from his shepherd duities, the bible says he was glowing and his eyes were bright. They all stood to the accepted of God.
Featured resource: An Infection From Rejection: by Dharius Daniels
