This life requires the power of God to live victorious. There are many seasons and many conflicts in this life. Jesus promised that we would be hated in this life. Being hated can be a difficult thing to deal with. How did Jesus deal with being betrayed? How did He handle being wrongfully accused and hated?

I believe that He continually found refuge in His Father’s pleasure. At Jesus’ baptism, the Father declared His love for His Son and that He was pleased with Him. In His Father’s presence He was safe and could be confident that He was delighted in.

Jesus experienced rejection often. His hometown literally wanted to throw Him off a cliff (Luke 4). This is a level of rejection that many of us have never experienced. We tend to struggle with a smaller degree of rejection, such as maybe a friend who disagrees with us.

In order to grow in being able to handle rejection, we have to recognize God’s Pleasure Power deep in our hearts. Paul said in Ephesians 1 that it was God’s good pleasure to bring us into adoption and the riches of His grace. As we recognize that God take’s pleasure in us, our hearts grow strong in Him, making us more ready to handle rejection.

Maybe one day you will be so blessed as to have your hometown try and throw you off of a cliff, but until then be bold in facing conflict. You will not be accepted by all. It’s a tough reality to swallow, but our Lord promised that we would be hated by everyone (Matthew 10:22). Take refuge in Jesus who delights in you, even when the world rejects you.