What do you do when no one wants to know

What do you do when no one wants to know you?
Acts 7: 18

“Then another king, who knew nothing about Joseph, became ruler of Egypt.”

Joseph was about to move from being well-known to unknown.

For any missionary one of the difficult times can be when their sending Pastor moves on and a new Pastor who does not know them arrives at the Church.
I remember a short while back a new Pastor of a church called me to say how they had to stop the funding of a missionary previously sent out by the outgoing Pastor because finances were tight and because the new Pastor didn’t share the vision for that country or project.
That was a tough time for that missionary.

I was only telling someone yesterday how one of our missionaries was taking off the membership list by a new Pastor because they hadn’t been in attendance at the church for 6 months which broke the church policy for membership. Quite hard to do when you are a missionary thousands of miles away!

Thankfully the majority of new Pastors are not like the two above!

But how do you handle things when change happens.
When all that you had, enjoyed and benefited from is no longer a guarantee and more than that is definitely going to be taken away.
How do you cope when you move from being known to not known?
Some people who retire in leadership roles struggle the most.
Some leaders who have to let go of their positions because of sickness fear not being known.
No one talks about it, but it is true, for some.

When man no longer knows you, or wants to know you, what do you do?

How you handle this depends on whether your identity is wrapped in the opinion and observation of man towards you.
If all that matters to you is that you are known in heaven by a God who loves you as a son and daughter, then when man no longer knows you, it is not a problem for you. You are still known. By One who is far more significant!