Points, points, points. Most all the credit card companies these days are offering points for one thing or another if you use their card. I have one such card. I earn points that I can redeem to various stores that I shop at. I like free stuff, don’t you?
Alas, my credit card was compromised last week. I was at the grocery store and the checkout girl handed it back to me and said, “you’ve been declined.” My heart began to pound in my throat. Suddenly, the fact that there were other people standing behind me who heard what she had said became of concern to me. Without doubt, this young lady didn’t really mean that I had been declined but that my transaction had been declined. Inside however, it felt as if I had been declined and rejected. I felt humiliated before strangers. Why? Why do we tend to react to these situations as if it is a direct reflection of our value? For some these situations are reminiscent of the past (or even the present). Perhaps for some there is the concern of what others will think: she doesn’t manage her finances very well! He must be living on credit! I bet all her cards are maxed out! Why do we care?
There was a familiar ring to her statement. For me, it was a direct flight back to the past. While the immediate sting was a bit painful, I stopped and thought about it as I was loading the groceries into my car. I know who I am. I know that I am of value. I know that I am loved and there is nothing – NOTHING – that can change that because it’s the love of God. His love is unfailing. I never deserved it but it was His good pleasure to give it to me. I rest in the fact that He’ll never grow weary of loving me regardless of what I’ve done, what I am doing, or what will do. He knows about rejection better than all of us put together.
No. I have not been decline. I have been approved. I am loved with an everlasting love and so are you.
“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:37-39.
