Ghosting

“Blessed are you when people exclude you” (Luke 6:22)

No…..this is not a blog about Halloween ghosts and goblins.  I’m one of those who don’t even celebrate Halloween.  This blog is about a different kind of ghosting.  One that became mainstream several years ago alongside the surge in online dating.  The term even became an official entry in the Merriam Webster dictionary in 2017.  Ghosting is about ending a personal relationship with someone by suddenly and without explanation withdrawing from all communication.  And if you have ever had this happen to you, as I have, it is not only bewildering but painful.

But there is an upside to ghosting.  We find it in Luke chapter 6 and verse 22.  This verse tells us that we are “blessed” when someone ghosts us.  You might say, “blessed!  I sure didn’t feel blessed!”  First, understand that the Greek word used in this verse for “exclude, ostracize, or separate you from their company” as some of the translations use, is the word “aforidzo”.  Now, I know that’s all Greek to you, but it is a very important word that is used in scripture to define God separating someone apart for His ministry and purposes. 

When you stop and meditate on that, you will realize that it is very profound.  It means God uses the rejection we receive from people in our life to separate us for himself.  In other words, the individual who “ghosted” us may have been motivated by not wanting any further relationship, but the Lord will use the ghosting and rejection to set us in a place where he can and will implement in us a plan to further his kingdom.  When God set someone aside for ministry in the bible, he would purify them.  A part of the purification process in scripture included brokenness.  Being ghosted or rejected can cause us to feel broken in the inside.  That brokenness could be the means that will bring about us making a greater impact for Christ with our life.  If everyone in the world accepted you and you never experienced rejection, perhaps you would not know the impact brokenness can have on your life.  Nor would you have been strengthened by it to be more useful and enjoy a deeper relationship with Christ as well as ministry for him.

Don’t allow the ghosting/rejection you receive at the hands of others cause you to go through life wounded and fearful.  Instead of licking your wounds, be healed by thanking God for it and allowing him to use it for your good and his glory.  The “aforidzo” that people inject in our lives is the same word God used to separate the high priest.  If you allow him to, God will make the rejection and ghosting you experience to become a holy separation that brings about your divine ministry.

                                                              Darlene