R-E-J-E-C-T-I-O-N...find out what it means to me

I'm humming the old school song "RESPECT" as I type this...sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me...that's what Rejection feels like. Like a punch to the gut.  We’ve all faced it at one time or another in our life and on occasion, we are the rejecter.

To be blunt, rejection hurts.  It makes us question our value and whether or not we are qualified. However, over the years I have learned that sometimes what we perceive as rejection is actually not rejection at all.

Sometimes, what feels like rejection is actually protection. In my life there were many occasions where I had asked God for something or someone and when I was presented with a closed door, I would perceive it as rejection. 

Later I would discover, that had I gotten MY way, it could have meant my destruction at worst and at the very least a broken heart.

Other times, a door may not stay closed forever, it is just the wrong time.  For example, parents often put up baby gates to keep their little ones from harm.  The baby sees something on the other side of the gate and wants to explore, but is hindered, so they become upset not realizing the danger down that path.  Eventually, as the child grows and learns how to walk and navigate, the baby gates come down.  They weren't placed there to hinder the child’s growth, but rather to protect the child until they were ready to walk the path.

When a door is closed we need to stop staring at it or trying to kick it down and trust that the reason it is closed is to protect us from the consequences.

Occasionally what feels like rejection is actually correction; and it’s an expression of Love.  The Bible tells us that God corrects those He loves:

Proverbs 3:12 NKJV For whom the Lord loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights.

It hurts to receive correction because generally we attempt to do our best and want to please God and others. So when we fall short and have to be corrected it hurts at first.  But if we take it and make the changes needed we find that in the end it works out better than we expected:

Proverbs 13:18 NKJV Poverty and shame will come to him who disdains correction, But he who regards a rebuke will be honored.

A practical example is driving a car.   We constantly make minor adjustments along the way to avoid ending up in a ditch or missing our exit.  It is much better to make the minor adjustment along the way and make it to our destination than ending up in a wreck.

Rejection feels like isolation.  When it happens, we feel like we are the only one who has to endure it.  But the Word clearly tells us that Jesus is well acquainted with rejection.

Isaiah 53:3 NKJV He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

Imagine his last week on this earth, even though he started it with a triumphal entry into Jerusalem, he ended up in a borrowed grave after dying a criminal’s death.  The Word tells us  that it PLEASED the Father that He paid our price, why?  Because the Father and Son both understood that was His whole purpose...to pay the price to redeem us all.

Isaiah 53: 10-12 NKJV Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities.

And finally, some of the rejection we face is the price we have to pay to blaze the trail for others, so that ALL may benefit.  I have gladly faced the rejection of this world in order to stand for Righteousness and draw others into the Kingdom. 

How about you?