If you’re wondering why some people reject God, I believe this explanation is one that more people than you might imagine can relate to. Additionally, I think the ideas I suggest about our partnership with the Lord and how to pray at the end of this brief post are worth considering.
So, here is some food for thought on why some people reject God.
It is often easier to reject a God whom you innately know loves and accepts you unconditionally than to set appropriate boundaries with those who’s love was not so unconditional. It is very difficult to accept that those who were supposed to love you such as parents, siblings, pastors, teachers etc. were ill-equipped or abusive and so often people strive for the acceptance of man. It makes sense that setting boundaries with an invisible God who you know you can return to at any time can feel simpler than establishing boundaries with visible people who reject you and make your to feel as though there is something unlovable about you, especially when you long to be loved by them. It is so easy to slip into performance for man rather than rest with God.
It’s also much easier to hold boundaries with someone who respects you; God always respects our free will and will not force us into a relationship with Him. In contrast, people are a messy kinda mess and boundaries can be really hard. Unfortunately, the desire to be loved and validated by others, particularly those who we perceive do not quite approve of us, often outweighs our desire to fully understand our identity in Christ and we put Him to the wayside while we pursue the approval of man. And end up rejecting god, angry at Him that we aren’t good enough in various arenas that we have pursued outside of Him.
With these things at play option people choose to reject God and hold boundaries with Him instead of with people because, even if we are not willing to admit it, we know deep down that He is the one we can always return to—who will never reject us and will always love and forgive us, no matter what. People not so much…
I want to emphasize that if this resonates with you, He understands how you got to where you are. He knows your trauma and every single life experience, including those things that are too hard to admit. He doesn’t judge you; He loves you. Because of that love, He walks with you gently, patiently, and kindly to help you come to the revelation of our life experiences and how we arrived at this point of rejecting God and chasing the acceptance of man.
As individuals start to realize that there needs to be a divine turn around in this way of thinking, He walks with us, He tenderly shows us the parts of our stories that we have buried and why we are the wya we are and why we are stuck where we are stuck. He does this to bring the truth to light and to set us free over time and in relationship with Him.
The reality is that He doesn’t want to hurt us; He wants to heal us, and He allows us to progress at our own pace.
I have found that the more we trust the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—allowing ourselves to believe that they are nothing like our earthly parents and siblings—the quicker we can accept truth and experience freedom.
It is every Christian’s responsibility to stay on the narrow path of learning to trust Him and seek Him first. It is also our duty to become more like our Father so that we can mature and partner with Him in binding up the brokenhearted around us, loving others with the patient, gentle, and safe love we ourselves have received.
If we are going to enter into partnership with the Father in doing for others what He has done for us, it’s essential to realize that these things go hand in hand. His love is patient, kind, and long-suffering; it does not envy, it doesn’t boast, and it rejoices in truth. We need to love like Him, working to gently lead others to the revelation of the truth about themselves and about the Father. Just like with us, this will take time and patience with people—something we cannot achieve without the power of the Holy Spirit within us. And lastly, He rejoices in truth, and so should we!
When the person you are leading comes to accept the truths you have been guiding them toward about the Father, themselves, and their story, this is cause for celebration. Let me explain why.
I believe that the “rejoices in truth” part of Scripture is included because there is immense satisfaction and joy when that moment comes—when the light bulb goes on, and the truth is seen and accepted. In that moment, no matter how difficult it is to face, freedom is attained.
When the light bulb comes on, the darkness has to flee, and the truth sets us free.
Each of us needs the power of the Holy Spirit to do this work for the Lord well because it takes immense patience to lovingly lead someone to realizations they have been avoiding their whole lives. When they finally accept it, we cannot help but rejoice, and we should not hold our joy back.
A prayer that we all need to be offering for those who reject God, as well as for those who walk closely with Him, is that we would all be guided deeper and deeper into all truth by the Holy Spirit every single day of our lives.
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1st Corinthians 13 4-7 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.