Stigma

The Oxford Dictionary describes it this way: A mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or person.

No one understands this term better than our blessed Lord Jesus. We read in Isaiah 53:3:
“He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”

After five tests and self-isolation for sixty-seven days, my dear wife Jill and I have just received our results to say that we are now negative for the Coronavirus - The miracle is that during the entire duration we suffered no symptoms whatsoever! But through this ordeal, which multitudes of folk have suffered throughout the Globe, the worst thing we suffered (which is no one’s fault) was the stigma attached to it.

You have a psychological feeling of rejection, one like I have not encountered before in my spiritual walk with God. For the first time, I am starting to understanding what Jesus must have felt during the time of His crucifixion. I do not think it was so much the physical pain He suffered, which must have been hellish, but rather it was the stigma of total rejection by His very own creation, that is what must have hurt him more than anything else. Even his very closest disciples deserted Him when He needed them most. Matthew 26:56: "Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled."

I have a renewed compassion and heart for prisoners who have been released from jail after serving their sentence and then having to face up to life again, but this time with a prison record. It must be extremely hard to try to integrate with society and be accepted and trusted again while carrying this deadly stigma with them.

God has shown me so many lessons through these past two months. One of them is never to judge a book by its cover, another is not to 'throw stones at people' especially when you live in 'a glasshouse'.

I always thought I had compassion for the so-called ‘down and outs’, or those who have 'fallen by the way' so to speak, but I have now a new understanding, and more than that, love and acceptance like I’ve never had before. I’ve also grown so much closer to Jesus during this time. When everyone else distanced themselves from the leper, Jesus did the very opposite and drew closer, then went on to heal him. Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, I am willing; be cleansed. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. Matthew 8:3.

O Master, please make us more like You. I pray, for there are so many folks hurting in the World today who just desire a loving touch from You.

Jesus Bless you,
Love Angus and Jill Buchan.