“He was despised and rejected…”
Despised, rejected, avoided, ignored, bullied, and no one cared.
Do any of these descriptive words touch a sensitive place in your heart? Alone is another word we could add to the list. Alone closes around this list of feelings with a tight, suffocating squeeze and whispers, “No one can help you. No one will understand your heartache. No one has time to be concerned about you.”
There was one who experienced a heartache greater than any we could ever imagine.
“He was despised and rejected- a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care” (Isaiah 53:3, NLT).
The prophet Isaiah told us the Messiah would be “acquainted with deepest grief,” but Isaiah also told us that Jesus was not handsome. The unattractive type that would go unnoticed and would not have run with the popular crowds. Jesus was not just rejected at the end of his life, but “there was nothing to attract us to him” from the start of his life. (Isaiah 53:2, NLT)
“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” was one person’s response when told that Jesus was the Messiah (John 1:46). John also tells us that Jesus’ “own people did not accept him.” (John 1:10). God came into the world through His Son, to become like one of us – not for His sake, but for ours. This act of humility for the heaven-sent man meant He would experience life as we do on earth to enter our story, including our pain.
Jesus gets us.
We focus on the miracles, His kindness to the lame, His acceptance of children, and His inclusion of women. Yet when the soft innocence of the Holy Night celebrated at Christmas collides with the brutal violence of Holy week, we are jolted into remembering a Friend who is also a Savior. Jesus is the type of friend who gets our pain more than we realize.
Jesus began and ended his life on earth alone. Jesus and His parents started alone in a stable away from family and friends to fugitives running for fear of their life alone in a foreign country. Jesus ended His life alone on the cross between two criminals, and only a few followers were left watching from a distance.
Jesus felt alone. “And Jesus cried, ‘My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?’” (Matthew 27:46, NLT)
“He was hated and rejected; his life was filled with sorrow and terrible suffering. No one wanted to look at him. We despised him and said, “He is a nobody!” (Isaiah 53:3, CEV)
Jesus felt alone, just like we feel alone at times, except Jesus was never alone. God did not desert Jesus; rather, Jesus’ human side at that moment connected with our feelings of abandonment, rejection, and loneliness.
We may feel alone, but the truth is we are never alone, either. Jesus cared enough to leave His heavenly throne to experience life as we know it. And now, His Spirit dwells in the souls of Christ-followers.
An Antidote to Alone
The remedy for alone is recalling the truth.
“…because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5, NLT)
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6, NIV)
“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10, NIV)
The truth is we are never alone. Jesus spoke this truth in some of his last words,
“…and lo, I am with you always [remaining with you perpetually—regardless of circumstance, and on every occasion], even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20, AMP)
Feelings of being alone drive our anxiety. First Peter 5:7 tells us to take our anxiety and feelings of alone to Jesus because he cares for us. We open the door when we pray and ask for the comfort of His presence. Friend to friend, we can share our honest feelings with Him. Our honest prayers shared with Christ, alone can no longer cause us to feel unstable.
“Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.” (Psalm 55:22, NIV)
We must turn to Christ because our very act of shunning his help is a form of rejection no different than those of Jesus’ day. He suffered on our behalf to bring healing to our broken souls. First Peter chapter 5 shares in verse 10, “In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.” (NLT).
Jesus meets us in the darkness of our alone as One who has been there and He Himself will restore, support, and strengthen us. We are not alone. We have a Friend who has been there in the alone and is now in our alone, with us.
I pray that Christ’s presence floods your soul, your room, and any space you would give to Him, pressing out the feelings of alone. May He send help soon in the form of a good friend, a community that will gather around you in your time of need, but that your heart will learn to be content with the Friend you have in Jesus. So be it, in Jesus’ name.
Meditate: Jesus is with me
Reflect: When is a time you felt alone? How can you use the truth to speak to the times you feel alone? Are you doing anything to isolate rather than associate with others? (See “Fight Like a Girl series – Part 3”) What is one thing you can do right now to reject alone and step into being deeply loved by God? (See “A Place of Already”)
Rooted: Isaiah 53; Psalm 142:1-5, Matthew 28
NOTE: God’s Word Gives Hope Podcast will be releasing short bonus episodes Holy Week for Tuesday-Friday, and then on Easter. Tuesday-Friday episodes will work through the entire chapter of Isaiah 53. Easter’s podcast will celebrate our identity in a risen Savior based on John 20. There will be no related blogs.
God’s Word Gives Hope will take a two-week break with regular Podcasts and Blogs returning on April 24.
For further encouragement on today’s verse, listen to the PODCAST on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, Google, IHeartRadio, and Podbean. Search God’s Word Gives Hope. LISTEN NOW
Receive Hope Every Week with Janae’s Thrive Newsletter, blog link included – Subscribe here
JSC Life & Leadership Coaching – I believe God has created each of us to thrive. Where are you not thriving? Work? Home? Life? Let me coach you. Contact me to schedule a consultation, and let’s get you moving forward. Contact Janae
Did you know you can follow God’s Word Gives Hope on Facebook and Instagram?
(Bible References: NRSV – New Revised Standard Version, NLT – New Living Translation, ESV – English Standard Version, NASB – New American Standard Bible, CEV – Contemporary English Version, NIV – New International Version, AMP – Amplified Version, YLT – Youngs Literal Translation, MSG – The Message, GN – Good News Bible, KJV – King James Version, HCSB – Holman Christian Standard Bible NKJV – New King James Version, GNT – Good News Translation, CSB – Christian Standard Bible)
#GodsWordGivesHope
#GodsWordGivesHopepodcast
#GodsWordGivesHopeblog
#devotionalstyleblog
#Hope #Rooted #Alone
#WhenYouFeelAlone #Isaiah53
#neveralone #JesusGetsUs
#createdtothrive #runtowin
#JSCLifeandLeadershipCoaching
