Didn't you ever read this in the Scriptures? The stone rejected by the builders has now become the cornerstone (Mark 12:10).
Have you ever wondered why Jesus had to go through experiences like betrayal and rejection? When God planned out how He would woo his bride to Himself, way back before the foundation of the world, don’t you think He could have planned not to have Judas betray Him? Was it so necessary to have His Son experience the cold shoulder of the Jews when they shouted at Pilate, "we have no king but Caesar?" Why would God allow His Son to go through such rejection from His people? Isaiah the prophet wrote about Christ more than 600 years previous to His coming, saying:
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering” (Isaiah 53:3).
God has a way of using rejection in the process of refining our character. I am not saying that Jesus needed His character refined, but that it was allowed so that He could comfort and come alongside us when we go through rejection. He had to endure much of what we go through as humankind so that He could feel what we feel:
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are–yet was without sin (Hebrews 4:15).
A.W. Tozer said, "God cannot use a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply." This accurate statement gives me hope in rejection. Perhaps you have asked for God to use you for His purposes. In some way I do not understand, God takes a person who has experienced rejection, sometimes at the hands of well-meaning people, and uses it as a tool to shape his or her life to become more like Christ.
We could go through a list of people who were much used by God after they went through terrible rejection. Moses was rejected by his people (Exodus 2:14). Joseph was rejected by his brothers and sold into slavery (Genesis 37:26). When Samuel the prophet was sent to the house of Jesse to anoint one of Jesse's sons to be King, David was not even invited; he was left out in the fields (1 Samuel 16:11). God powerfully used each of these and many more that we do not have room to name.
Our passage of scripture at the top of the page speaks of Jesus, Men may have rejected him, but consider the outcome of His life laid down for you and me, life forevermore if you have placed your trust in Him. God is still able to make useful living stones out of those who are rejected by men. Maybe you are one…
Prayer: Rejection is painful, Father, but please use it to make me more like Jesus. Amen. Keith Thomas