In I Samuel 8:7, God told the disappointed Samuel: “They have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me.” Many pastors and other Christian workers today need to hear this same word from God and take it to heart.

When you are disappointed at the hands of man, as Samuel was in this passage, realize that they have not rejected you, but the Lord you represent:

— if they have no appetite for the word of God, it is not you they have rejected, but God, the author of the written word.
— if they have no passion for worship, it is not you they have rejected, but the God of glory.
— if they have no patience for prayer, it is not you they have rejected, but God, the Divine Object of those prayers.
— if they have no desire to witness, it is not you they have rejected, but God, whose glory and truth they have no desire to share.
— if they are angry because you spoke the truth, it is not you they have rejected, but Him who is the Author of all truth.
— if they prefer worldly methods of “ministry”, it is not you they have rejected, but God whose means they have set aside for carnal efforts.
— when they attack you in countless different ways, realize that as hurtful as they are, often times the attacks are not nearly as personal as you might think, for their assaults are, deep down, a rejection of the God you serve, and you are merely His representative. Those same attacks would have come against anyone who represented God in your same place.

The examples could go on endlessly. Jesus said in John 15:20, “If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.” We have the privilege of representing Him in ministry to people here on earth, but with that unfathomable privilege comes a cost: when they reject Him, they will also reject US as His messengers. And it is certain to happen. But when it does, may God give us the grace to remember: “they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me.”