The Problem
We don’t live in a perfect world where everyone is accepted and celebrated. There’s actual rejection and perceived rejection and our responses to both can dictate our view in life. I can’t stop rejection from happening, but I can stop expecting it by refusing to place expectations on people to be everything I need.
The Strike
Rejection strikes us at our core and shapes our identity. After too many rejections, it’s easy to begin expecting it before it even happens. We step into relationships and situations with the mindset of rejected and we set ourselves up for failure.
The Deception
Rejection deceives us into thinking we’re not worthy of acceptance. It twists God’s truth and strangles us. His opinion of us needs to be the foundation of our perception of ourselves. He must be everything to us.
But rejection weaves a lie through our minds and hearts that defines us as “reject-able,” and we start to believe it. When we believe that we’re reject-able, we act with hesitancy and we withhold our truest selves from the opportunities God gives us. These opportunities come in many forms, but they usually involve other people.
The Restoration
God is in the business of heart restoration and he uses you and I to speak life into hearts, but when we function from a place of rejection, we are unable to be effective at loving others. Experiences with repeated rejections set us on a cycle of rejecting ourselves and inadvertently rejecting others. We confuse actual rejection with perceived rejection–the two get tangled up and we’re left with a confusing ball of pain where we chase man’s approval instead of resting in the love of God who approves us, chooses us, and transforms us.
I’ve only ever seen the negative side of rejection, but God challenged me to look for the good in it. He basically asked if I would be willing to let him redeem rejection in my life. The following article is the result of saying yes. I hope it blesses you and presents a new perspective on rejection.
10 Resons Why Rejection is a Good Thing
I’m praying you allow God to redeem rejection in your life. Lay it at his feet, trust him with the process, and seek his face.
