Shake off the dust and believe!

Luke 10

I don’t know about you but there seem to be a million things going on in my life right now, all of them good but still a million. However, if with a million good things going on, all it seems to take to mess things up is one bad thing. Does that ever happen to you? As humans it is easy for us to focus on what is wrong rather than appreciate the things that are right. Bad things are going to happen but as men and women of God two things really always occur. More good things happen than bad and second God can turn the bad things to our good if we will trust Him.

In this passage, Jesus is giving some great instruction to the disciples. Go heal the sick, cast our demons, and do all kinds of miracles! Boy I would love for him to say that to me! (Oh right, He did say it to me in both the end of Matthew and Mark!) These men were out there doing it, the sick were being healed, miracles were taking place, and demons were being cast out. Despite all of these great things, some cities were rejecting the disciples. Can you imagine anyone rejecting miracles? (I am saying this sarcastically; millions in the church and outside of the church today reject the idea of miracles) There will be times when you pray for people and you will not see the miracle immediately. There will be times when people will reject you because you believe in miracles. We want affirmation, every person does! When we are rejected it can hurt and cause us to give up.

When we think of the disciples, we tend to put them on a level above all things. We need to keep in mind that these guys were just normal people, fisherman, business owners, and soldiers - normal people. They had normal feelings but were called to be supernatural people. When they were rejected it hurt. Jesus warned in advance that they would get rejected. He told them shake the dust off of your feet and move on!

The enemy wants to stop God and God’s people from doing great things. He will use whatever means he can to get us. Rejection has been a key tool of the enemy for a long time. It causes us to go into depression, doubt our call, our God, and ourselves. Jesus knew that for the disciples before He sent them out and knew that for us today. He said, “In this world you will have tribulation, but I have overcome the world!” The minute we allow rejection to grab hold, is the minute the enemy wins.

I have seen many men and women of God wiped out, leave churches and/or ministries, just because of a bit of rejection. They made a choice to believe a lie of the enemy over a promise of God.

People have been rejecting God’s plan and purpose for millennia, but His purpose will not be stopped (Job 42:2). The next time your call, ministry, or purpose are rejected, shake the dust off of your feet and believe God and His promises!