Out of many who are happy to hear about God’s love, there will always be those who want no part in it. Depending on your character this may or may not be a bad experience for you, when you are the person sharing the Gospel. The reason being is that you may receive insults or derogatory remarks that may leave you feeling rejected. Lets look at the life of Paul the apostle (please read Acts 13) to see how he dealt with rejection.

In verse 45 the Bible tells us that the message Paul and Barnabas were preaching was not well received by the Jews. The Jews were filled with hatred and spoke abusive words against them. In fact in verse 50 it gets worse when the Jews stirred up a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from the region.

However, the thing to learn here is how Paul and Barnabas reacted to this rejection. Did they get discouraged? Did they fight back? Lets take a look at what they did:

“So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.” Acts 13:51-52 (NIV)

There are three things that we can learn from the reaction of Paul and Barnabas. The first is that they shook the dust from their feet. This is a way of saying to the region that since it has rejected the gospel, its dust is not even worthy of being on their feet. It is saying that they wish not to take anything with them from that region.

The second thing we can learn here is that they moved on and went to Iconium. Paul and Barnabas did not stay and fight with the Jews, nor did they get discouraged and give up. They simply pressed on with their mission. The reality is that the clock is ticking, our time here on earth is limited so don’t waste all your time and energy on one person. If they reject the gospel, keep them in prayer, but move on.

The third thing we can learn here is that after they moved on, they were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. Despite being rejected they still had the joy of the Lord, the Holy Spirit was still with them. The truth is that when someone rejects the Gospel, they don’t reject you, they reject Jesus. So don’t take it personal, just let Jesus deal with them. Besides, its actually a blessing for you:

“Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man” Luke 6:22 (NIV)

So is it going to be rejection left and right when I share the Gospel? While you should prepare for rejection, there will be plenty of people who will gladly receive the Gospel. In the following verses we can see Paul and Barnabas successfully preaching the gospel as it is being well received:

“As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people invited them to speak further about these things on the next Sabbath. When the congregation was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them and urged them to continue in the grace of God.” Acts 13:42-43 (NIV)

Filed under: Devotionals, Reflections, Winning Souls by Jose Palacios