Facing Rejection
Rejection confronts us in more ways than one. Sometimes we feel prepared for it, others times it hits us out of no where like a ton of bricks. I’d like to describe the impact of rejection as a dagger, but that’d eliminate the purpose in why rejection was present to begin with.
I know many of us have heard the phrase, rejection is God’s protection or Rejections is God’s redirection, but believing the truth of the statement doesn’t always come right away.
What happens when you believed something was yours then it turned out not to be? What happens when you planned for a very yes that turned out to be a no? How do you shift your mind to focus on the new thing God is doing, instead of obsessing over the past thing that God didn’t do?
““Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43:18-19 NIV https://my.bible.com/bible/111/ISA.43.18-19”
We may not have the answer to all of life’s questions, but during the unknown purpose of rejection, we can focus on what is known —and that is the truth of God’s word.
Your emotions, sadness, hurt and pain are all valid. It’s perfectly healthy to acknowledge such emotions- it becomes unhealthy when we start to obsess over them.
Ways I face rejection is by disciplining my mind to believe the best, using scripture. Jeremiah 29:11 says “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” I have to commit my thoughts to believing that God’s plans for me are good and that he will not withhold any good from me because he loves me. So if there’s anything that he does withhold from me, then it wasn’t good.
Actively confront rejection.
Another way I face rejection is by confronting the ugly emotions that come with it, and not avoiding it. Even though our feelings are valid, they are not always true. Rejection can bring about a feeling of inadequacy, unworthiness, not enough, jealousy, pride and so much more, but that’s exactly what our enemy wants us to believe about ourselves. He wants to steal the purpose and worth God has already given us, and ways he tries to do so is by snatching the confidence we have about ourselves and planting seeds of insecurities. So when you acknowledge the ugly feelings that the Bible declares is not true of you, replace those empty nothings with God’s promises that are true of you.
Even when your feelings haven’t caught up to your mind to believe God’s promises for you, consistently affirm yourself with such promises until your heart believes what has always been true.
Facing rejection requires intentionality. If you passively face rejection, the negativity and lies will consume you. When you confront rejection with the truth, then you regain your confidence by knowing and believing that God orders your steps, and he’s leading you right where he wants you to be.
Keep going, and don’t give into the lies of rejection. ✨
