by Mike Davies

Mike Davies

I remember when I was at school having my heart shattered through the rejection of a girl I had admired and been friends with for a number of years. I thought the torture in my heart would under no circumstances come to an end. Ultimately it did, but little did I appreciate that would not be my first encounter with the devastation of my heart. I have three older brothers and while in my early twenties I watched helplessly as an incurable illness crushed my next eldest brother who in the end passed away experiencing considerable agony and distress.

It is near enough impossible to get through your life devoid of being hurt at some point. Relationships can be breathtaking and enjoyable but potentially damaging and often through no fault of our own. A relationship broken through break-up, illness, or death can leave us absolutely distraught, occasionally for a short time but for some a life time.

We are intended and shaped for companionship and social interaction and that implies embracing friendship to the full. However, this can be precarious as we then render ourselves open to possible hurt and rejection.

Some years ago a friend quoted to me the words by Tennyson, 'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all'; his timing was appalling. When we are in a good place in life, feeling fully secure, I think we would agree to the general sentiment. But when we are in such loss those words can seem so bogus and remote. Tennyson actually wrote those words out of his own suffering. Samuel Butler made a slight amendment to the statement stating it would have been '.. Better never to have lost at all' and I think we would all agree to that. If we love something so much and never lose it then it has to be better than to have loved something so much and then to have lost it.

I have a 2 year old son, coming on 3, who is passionate coming on obsessive about the film Madagascar. It is an animated film focusing on four main characters. Alex the lion, Marty the Zebra, Melman the giraffe and Gloria the hippo. Alex starts life as a lion cub in an African wildlife reserve, he is then captured by poachers and ultimately ends up in Central Park Zoo in New York. Through a sequence of events he ends up shipwrecked with his friends on the island of Madagascar.

Alex the lion was born with a potentially great future; he could pass through hundreds of miles in the nature reserve, but now he was confined to a zoo in Central Park where life became dreary and mundane. He was fed with no need for hunting, kept behind bars and all of his natural instincts were no longer required.

When arriving on the island his natural instincts started to come back and he began to see his friends in a different way. No longer close friends to open your heart to, but now possibly a good healthy meal. Having tried to eat Marty the zebra, Alex is full of remorse, his heart broken at having done such a terrible act. He now has to try and restore his relationship with his friends, managing to do this by coming to their rescue.

Have you ever wondered why God, in His infinite wisdom decided to put in the Garden of Eden the tree of knowledge of good and evil? I think if I were God I would have left it out as there would then be no prospect of rejection. Was this the first possible case of entrapment? Were Adam and Eve being lined up to take a fall for mankind? No. God wanted a full and open relationship with them. In order to fully embrace love, a person must be exposed to the possibility of rejection. God's desire for Adam and Eve was for them to play a part in His life and love. In order for God's love to be real, the tree needed to be planted in the garden. For a parent to fully incorporate love with a child there needs to be the possibility of rejection, otherwise the child may become like Alex the lion confined in the zoo, with not much of a future and restricted from being released into destiny. This, of course, applies to any close and lasting relationship.

The fall of mankind is not about disobedience it is about a relationship lost. I cannot conceive in my heart how God felt through Adam and Eve's disobedience and rejection. However, I am assured that whatever our hurt and pain, our Lord has been there Himself and can provide peace and healing into our lives.

I spend the majority of my time ministering in the area of healing. Many people come forward at conferences or send in email requests for physical healing, but the vast majority, by a long way, require a healing of the heart and soul.

We have a Lord Jesus who has been rejected many times and understands the pain that it brings. If you would like me to stand with you in prayer then please let me know.

May the Holy Spirit empower you today to embrace life, embrace God and embrace His healing touch.