Jesus had a problem. He was born on the wrong side of the tracks. Nothing good comes out of Nazereth. No prophet ever came from Galilee. So because of his childhood home, He was dismissed, discounted, disregarded.

The Father knew Jesus would be discounted if
He were from Galilee, so why not have Jesus grow up in Jerusalem? Perhaps, the humanity in Jesus needed to experience rejection to develop compassion. Throughout His ministry, Jesus constantly reached out to, took time for the “least of these”. Those society dismissed, discounted, deemed unworthy – Bartimaeus, the woman at the well, the woman caught in adultery.

Perhaps where he grew up was handpicked by God.

I jokingly say, I am a minority of minorities. Left-handed, female, African American, Pentecostal, female who prefers a good math problem to a novel, female with a gift to teach and doesn’t like chocolate or shopping. Because of this, I know first hand what it feels like to be discounted, dismissed, disregarded. But like Jesus, my rejection has given me a heart to love the “least of these.” To reach out to the hurting, the different, those who don’t fit in. My pain has become my passion.

Do not allow anyone (including yourself) to discount you because of gender, race, socio-economic status, childhood experiences or personal tragedy. But take your hurts, your pains, your disappointments and give them to God. Allow God to mold and form those experiences. Allow God to give them context. No, He was not the author of your pain, but He will redeem your pain. He can turn your pain into a promise, your hurt into your inheritance and your disappointments into your destiny.

Jesus was not disqualified because of His past and neither are you.

“They replied, “You aren’t from Galilee too, are you? Investigate carefully and you will see that no prophet comes from Galilee!”
‭‭John‬ ‭7:52‬ ‭NET‬‬
http://bible.com/107/jhn.7.52.net