The Lord Jesus Christ was rejected by the very people of His own for whom He came. In spite of all the miracles, signs and wonders, He was still rejected and even put to death. Sometimes this seeming paradoxical incident blew my mind: He came for His own and His own rejected Him?
He came to His own, yet those who were His own did not receive Him. John 1:11
In shepherding new ones, I also began to experience rejection in an indirect way. As a person, as a friend or even as a brother, they like me. But as I have nothing to share but the word of God, some of these new ones showed signs of withdrawal. I have a deep burden for these ones, but I cannot force myself to visit and shepherd them. I cannot interfere with their free will. I have the liberty to shepherd them only if they allow me and welcome me. Otherwise, I can only pray for them until the Lord touches them and they invite me.
Three new families that have been contacted through doorknocking have shown this sign of rejection. Our initial contacts were sweet and wonderful. Every time we met, we sang, read and spoke from the Bible, and even prayed together. As the meeting went on week by week, the Lord also dispensed His life into their being. Yet at the same time, the enemy also tried his best to distract them, frustrate them, and even to stop them from contacting us or us contacting them. But I never would give up easily nor do I intrude into their lives without their free will acceptance. Gradually, they stopped to pick my calls and I find it difficult to even meet them. To me, this is an indirect way of saying "No". I am willing to spend my time, energy, and money for them because the Lord burdened me for them. If I couldn't shepherd them, the only thing I can do is pray, pray, and pray. Perhaps, the Lord wants me to exercise my prayer life more than my going out to shepherd.
A brother who has been pursuing the morning revival with me for a while also face stiff opposition within his being. He, being a Catholic, found himself struggling within in dilemma between catholicism and the church life. A conflict of interest also arose in the matter of worshipping the Lord Jesus directly in the spirit as God is Spirit.
God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truthfulness. John 4:24
In contrary to the burning of candles and "worshiping" through mother Mary, basically an idol according to the pure word of God, the truth here is to worship God in spirit and be in fellowship for the building up of the Body of Christ, the church, not religion. Because of such struggle within him, he requested that we take a break from our regular pursuing and prayer over the phone and even the visit of his home weekly. My prayer and burden for him and his family are for the welfare of their spiritual life for the Lord's testimony. There has been a direct spiritual warfare in the unseen world. I dread not the forces of darkness, I will keep praying for this family until the Lord fully delivered them for His testimony. Deliverance from all religious, superstitious, and fleshly deception is the present need of the family. Even this experience taught me a wonderful and precious first-hand lesson on shepherding-rejection.
The Lord's grace is sufficient for me to learn the shepherding lesson of rejection. I count this as temporary incident, for the new ones have already received the seed of the divine life. Come what may, they will gradually be recovered; only the Lord knows how and when. Meanwhile, I have been learning my lesson on shepherding-rejection.
Lord, train me and perfect me, and shepherd me in shepherding that I can shepherd others as You would.
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