During organ transplant procedures, an organ is surgically placed in the body of a patient who needs the tissue in order for his or her body to function properly. Unfortunately, a major challenge with this operation is tissue rejection, which happens when the body of the patient receiving the organ rejects the organ. Tissue rejection occurs as a result of the immune system attacking the organ.
Our bodies have an immune system which is designed to protect us from infections and harmful substances like toxins and microorganisms. These harmful substances have proteins on their cells known as antigens. When they enter our bodies, our immune system is able to detect these antigens. This is because the antigens from the foreign agents are different from the ones in our bodies. Once our immune system notices this difference, they then identify the source of the foreign antigens and proceed to attack it.1
The bottom line is that the rejection took place because the organ and patient were incompatible. God is the Great Physician who designed our bodies to refuse anything that does not conform to them. In the same way, God has orchestrated our lives in a manner that when we try to place ourselves in the lives of people who are incompatible with us, like an organ that is a mismatch to a patient, we get rejected. The rejection is a safeguard to protect and preserve us for others who match us. The rejection is to protect us from people who are harmful, toxic and can infect our lives with their toxicity.
Interestingly, organ transplants are successful with no rejections when the recipient of the tissue is an identical twin of the organ donor. This is the case because the antigen on the tissue from the donor is identical with the antigen in the recipient’s body. Therefore, the immune system recognizes the foreign tissue as part of the body of the recipient, so it does not attack the tissue.
That concept of immunological rejection reinforces how God uses rejection to help us end up with people, in places, or at positions that are compatible with God’s purpose for our lives. If the person, project, or environment that you’re trying to associate with is not “identical” to God’s plan for your life, rejection is triggered to protect, preserve, and redirect you to the individuals and areas which are in line with God’s plan for your life.
- O. J. Toks, Rejected for a Purpose (Paoli, PA: Elevator Group Faith, 2010), 255-256.