Rejection- Emotion of a Laborer

My ministry philosophy has always been a pretty simple one. I view ministry kind of like a cup. Inside the cup are all the things that I know or have experienced. If there is anything in there that will be of help to someone they are welcome to them. I don’t know if that is too simple or simply profound. One thing I do know is that is all I have. And that is all I can give. For most of my ministry that has worked pretty well and for the most part the Lord has used me to help some people. That is until I took the lead pastor role in a small church in my hometown several years ago. For the first time in my life I shared my cup, the people looked in and said no thanks.  They saw what I had and  said that’s not good enough. You suck buddy. Rejection. Rejection big time. To be honest 10 years later I am still not sure how to respond to that that kind of thinking. When all you have is not good enough, what is a laborer to do?  It is interesting that Jesus faced the same thing in His hometown. They ran Him out of town and were planning to throw Him off a cliff but He somehow eluded their grasp. Over the course of your ministry you will face similar things. It may not be as drastic as the two illustrations I have mentioned but you will face rejection. Maybe familiarity does breed contempt. Or maybe it is true that all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. Or said another way: rejected. But God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints (Hebrews 6:10).