I WAS ALWAYS THE LAST ONE PICKED. I moved around a lot as a kid. By the time I was 22, I had lived in about 18 different places, including states, towns and houses. It was chaotic to say the least. Remember picking teams for kickball? Do they even still play kickball? That was all the rage in my elementary school years. Well, the kid with two broken legs gets picked before the new kid. Rejection. My life has been full of it. Rejected by mother and father. Rejected by friends. Rejection is painful. It’s the weakness in my flesh and the enemy continually pummels me with rejection. It gets into the fiber of your being and if you do not overcome it; rejection can become your identity,
“Hi there, just refuse me. My name is rejection”.
Rejection will keep you from making friends, “a man who will make friends must show himself friendly”. To make friends, you have to be willing to get hurt if that person does not reciprocate. Rejection will cause you to have an offended spirit, “they don’t like me” will be your calling card. If I could tell you all the lies that infiltrated my head because my fear of rejection was so strong. I just assumed people would not like me without even giving them the chance.
Rejection will open the door for the enemy to run all over you and you will never move into the place where God wants you and desires to use you for His glory. I mean it. The fear of rejection will keep you from stepping out in faith to do God’s will. It will keep you from speaking truth and it will keep you from truly loving others with the love of Christ. Because of a fear of rejection, the enemy has already won and you will live life defeated and alone.
Yet we have a Savior that identifies with us. Jesus was rejected, “He was despised and rejected by man”; so you’re in good company; but He knew who He was. He was not ruled by the opinions of men. Here’s where it separates the faithful from the fearful. Do you know who you are? More importantly, do you know WHOSE you are? Rejection didn’t stop Him from doing the Father’s will. Rejection didn’t stop Him from discipling 12 lunkheaded men, even when they denied and fled from Him. Rejection could not stop Him from going to the cross.
IF you are in Christ, you too will be rejected by man many times over, but more importantly accepted by God. Which identity will define you? Only you can tell. Rejection will have you preserve your life when the cross requires you give it away. Therefore dear friend, do not let rejection define you. You can overcome it by the blood of the Lamb and the word of your testimony. Let God’s Word rule and reign in your heart instead of your emptiness and false emotions and feelings.
Put these words in your heart today,
“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.” I John 3:1
To Learn More About Pastor Crystal please visit the Leadership Page