Alone And Misunderstood

YOU MAY LIVE IN A HOUSE full of people or work in a crowded office, and yet I imagine you sometimes feel alone, misunderstood, overlooked, or rejected. I know I do. Friends and family are often too immersed in their own issues to notice ours. Criticism and condemnation are far more prevalent in our world than concern and compassion. Who cares about us, anyway? We already know the answer in our brains, but the reality that God cares needs to make a home in our hearts.

We know from Scripture that our enemy can’t win in the end, but he will go to great lengths to ruin the here and now by making us feel hurt and alone. He knows we may struggle to make a positive impact on others when we have wounds that require healing and hearts that need mending.

In the midst of a busy season, surrounded by people, I was wounded when I was unjustly accused. I felt so alone and misunderstood. Then I had a flashback to my first job after college—working in public relations for a bank. A new manager was hired to replace one convicted of embezzlement, and the environment became oppressive because the employees were treated as if we were guilty too. One day I unknowingly helped a prominent customer suspected of participating in the conspiracy. When I was questioned about my involvement, my efforts to be helpful were misinterpreted. I felt so alone!

What about you? Have your motives been misinterpreted, your words misconstrued, your efforts misread? Has your sincerity been doubted? This time, the only thing that spared me from throwing a pity party was remembering that I could choose God’s grace over Satan’s tricks. Jesus stood alone and rejected so that you and I would not ever need to handle life on our own. Even His Father was forced to turn His back while His innocent Son died on a wooden cross between two thieves. Jesus, the Son of God, cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Mark 15:34). Surely the One who experienced this complete abandonment comprehends our pain and hears our silent cries when we feel rejected and alone.

One day—when, no one knows—Jesus will return to set the record straight. Until that time, He will continue to be misunderstood and rejected by some of the very people He gave His life to save. So how do we deal with similar emotional pain when others turn against us or think badly of us? We follow Jesus’ example and trade human rejection for God’s acceptance. Is this process of exchanging our hurts for His healing really necessary? It is, if the goal is freedom, peace, spiritual growth—and opportunities to comfort others like He comforted us. When we don’t go through this process, the blaming and bitterness that result from taking “into account a wrong suffered” (1 Corinthians 13:5) put us in the same “guilty” category as our oppressors, even when the charges against us are invalid.

My recent experience reveals the ripple effects of God’s unmistakable compassion. When I brought Him my pain of rejection and misunderstanding, I experienced His divine comfort. That led to not just one but three opportunities to demonstrate the same compassion to others later that evening. Although I was not in a mood for celebration, Bob and I kept our commitment to attend the birthday party of a close friend. I arrived with a heart supernaturally softened by God’s comfort and made ready to care about the challenging circumstances of two guests who didn’t yet know my loving Savior. God had comforted me so I could, in turn, comfort them. Then, as I was leaving the party, I received a text from another friend with an urgent need to be comforted. I doubt it was a coincidence!

Does your heart ache? Are you dealing with painful emotions that you can’t share with anyone? Run straight to the Lord, who offers comfort for every distress. Then be ready to deliver His unmistakable comfort to hurting people along the way. God gives us the amazing privilege of comforting others with the same comfort we have received from Him.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

REFLECTION

Think about a time when you felt misunderstood or unjustly accused. Meditate on the passage above, and then turn to God with your hurt and thank Him that He understands. How can your past experiences help you to share compassion and understanding with those around you who may be hurting?