I remember one Sunday afternoon, my family and I put on our game faces. We stuffed our cooler with sodas and beef jerky and we all crammed in the SUV for our once a year, three hour pilgrimage, to see our beloved football team, probably lose again. But it didn’t matter, win or lose it was more about spending time and having fun with the family. I will never forget when we got there and had to scurry through the parking lot to the stadium, the atmosphere was electric. Tailgate parties were everywhere, and in full swing. The smell of barbecue was in the air, music blaring, fans from both sides, having fun, playing cornhole games with their family and friends, drinking, grilling, and tossing footballs around. What a great day for football. Now keep in mind, we wore our favorite team’s logo front and center on our shirts and it was proudly displayed too. However, I was quickly reminded that we were the visiting team. As we made our way through the tailgate parties, it was amazing how everyone stopped what they were doing and showed their appreciation and respect for our devotion to our football team. Yes, the home team fans were so kind, letting us know how much they really felt about us. They welcomed us with open arms, applauded us and rolled out a red carpet for us. It was like a ticker tape parade. “Hip-hip hooray!”, they merrily cried as they all cheered us on, like we were the royal family. Some gave gifts and offered us their hot dogs and beer. We respectfully declined of course. It was an amazing experience, such a euphoric moment with everyone coming together and cheering on their fellow man. Right now you’re probably reading this and your rolling your eyes, wondering what planet was this on? You’re right, it was far from that. Actually, the sound of boos was so loud it was almost deafening. Yes, it was nothing but boos coming from strangers full of booze. We even had my six year old and seven year old nephews with us but they didn’t care if they cried or not. They kept at it anyway, shouting at us obscenities and curses. It was the worst feeling ever, having crowds of people just look at you with so much hate and disgust. I don’t care if it was supposed to be all in fun, it sure didn’t feel that way to me at the moment. I really thought to myself, this isn’t worth it, let’s go home. Some people take their football so seriously that they could care less about hurting anyone’s feelings or making them feel unwanted or uncomfortable. I don’t care who you are, but no one likes being booed at, no one. No one in this life should be made to feel unwanted or rejected. Unfortunately in this life, we all must face rejection one way or the other. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve faced it with my career goals and with my dreams. I would prepare everything and give it my all, only to find that the person on the other side of that table holding my fate in their hands, didn’t see me as a valuable asset to their team. Then there’s rejection in relationships. Have you ever been turned down by that girl or guy you had a crush on? Yep, I’ve been there. There’s also been a number of times where friends have even excluded me out of their lives for no good reason or I’ve been nothing but a great friend to this person, always giving this friend advice and help but when it comes to their part, there’s no reciprocation in return. Sometimes,  I have often faced it when trying to share my own faith. Some people have laughed at me for believing in Jesus, some have gotten upset with me but all I did was lovingly share what Christ was doing in my life. Let’s face it, rejection sucks and unfortunately we all must bump into it from time to time. The question is how are we to respond? As believers Jesus tells us to follow Him. Let’s take a look and see how Jesus handled it and let’s follow His example. I was reading in Matthew 8:28-34. In this passage Jesus and his disciples arrived by boat at a place called the Gadarenes, a heavily populated country inhabited by Gentiles. Here they were met by two demon possessed men who were so fierce and violent that they prevented them from passing by. When the demons realized they were dealing with Jesus, they pleaded with Jesus to send them into the pigs. Jesus exercised His authority over the demons and cast them out of the two men and into the herd of pigs. The pigs then rushed off a cliff and into the sea and drowned. The herdsmen were so upset, they told the rest of the town what Jesus had done. The whole town came to Jesus and pleaded for Him to leave immediately. Wow, can you imagine this? Here Jesus just freed two men from demon oppression and the only thing they cared about was their pigs. Hey, I don’t know about you, but I love a good barbecue, but not that much. These people were putting pigs over Jesus just because Jesus was interfering with their economy and their way of life. I can only speculate what the disciples were thinking. Perhaps they thought to themselves “Why the nerve of these people!”. “Don’t they know what we’ve been through? We just went through this terrible storm, we’re wet, tired and hungry. Jesus is amazing and kind. He’s got an incredible gift of teaching, He’s healed many people, He just freed these two men and this is the thanks we get?” Perhaps they expected the people to welcome them into their homes and feed them and shower them with love but the town didn’t see Jesus the same way they did. So how did Jesus respond to this rejection? In Matthew 9:1, it tells us that Jesus got into another boat and went to His own town. In other words Jesus moved on. He didn’t stay in that place of rejection, He moved forward and took His ministry elsewhere. For some of us we need to be reminded of this. When we are excluded, mistreated or abandoned, we can’t stay in our hurts. Staying only leads to anger and resentment. The only chance for us to survive, is to get into the boat and move forward. For some of us moving forward is moving on from a relationship that is toxic, for some of us it’s changing the direction of our career goals, or changing the course of our dreams. For some of us moving forward is forgiving the ones that hurt us and restoring that relationship. Jesus did that to reconcile with us. When He hung on the cross facing the ultimate rejection, He said, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” He was able to move forward from the grave and ascended into heaven. If we can learn to forgive, we too will be able to ascend and rise above our hurts and when we do, we will be able to see our situation from a heavenly perspective. Jesus was no stranger to rejection and He didn’t let that impact His purpose in life and neither should we. So, the next time we find ourselves stuck on forsaken island, don’t wallow in your pain and stay there, you will only destroy yourself and others around you. Remember, you’re with Jesus, and He will never leave you nor forsake you. His love is all we ever need. Just follow Jesus into the boat and set sail for greater adventures.  As you go further out into the deep, you’ll look back on that once enormous island of suffering and hurt and all you will see is just a tiny little speck in the water. Nothing but a distant memory and all because you decided to move on.