Have you ever been so certain that an interview went well, only to find out you didn’t get the job? Or you meet someone and there is the potential for you both to become great friends, but when you reach out they keep you at arm’s length?
Rejection is something that all of us are likely to experience at some point in our lives. Frankly speaking – it sucks. It can have a negative impact on your self-esteem and can sometimes even cause you to question everything you know is true about who God says you are. It’s in these times of hurt that we must remember God’s promises:
“So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the LORD your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you”. – Deuteronomy 31:6
God has assured us that regardless of what we face in life He won’t leave or forsake us.
In the famous words of Pastor Steven Furtick, “Man’s rejection is often God’s redirection”. When you approach rejection from this understanding, it changes your outlook on the circumstances you are facing.
The initial rejection is painful, but so often you’ll look back later in life and realised that God had saved you from long-term issues by removing you from that situation before it develops any further, or maybe he had something EVEN better in store for you!
We never know what God is protecting us from and so we should “count it all as joy” – James 1:2 even if the situation is a little upsetting at the time. We should always try our best to remember that God’s plan for us is for good because He desires to give us hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11).
Rejection produces resilience. It causes you to rely on God, more than ever before, as a source of comfort. Instead of allowing the rejection to make you bitter, channel the feelings you have into strengthening your character; so that the next time you are in a similar situation you will approach it with godly wisdom and patience.
Some things just aren’t meant to be and we have to get to the point as Christians where we learn to let go of anything or anyone that isn’t a part of God’s plan for our lives.
