Feelings of Rejection Are a Lie from the Enemy

an Everyday Christian devotional
Feelings of Rejection Are a Lie from the Enemy
By Lili Richey Willard 

I am going to write about something that has long plagued me, my entire life. From the time I was a little girl, to right now, today, I have faced the monster called...rejection. 

Yesterday, I was talking to God on my way to work, which is not an unusual thing for me. And I am most grateful that during that time, He often gives me a word, or rebukes me for something I said or did (although in a sweet manner), or He urges, no, commands me to do something. I was sharing with Him my feelings about life in general, like the crazy time demands from my job, my home life needs, my friends and family time, my poor suffering hubby's patience with 'the woman who lives at the computer'! I was, in other words, lamenting, but with an honest heart, and in need for a kind word from Him. And I got it.

Yes, He told me, almost as if I heard His awesome voice, that I must write about it all. He zeroed in on the one thing I mentioned that was really at the heart of my conversation with him to begin with...my feelings of rejection. Now, this blog today is not the actual article I am to write. He was very clear how to, when to, and why to. The time is not now. It will be soon, but I will know when to do it. But He also wanted me to start expressing myself, and my emotions, to others, and I believe that is because so many of us really do share these feelings of rejection, inadequacy, the Less Than Syndrome. 

Alot of this has no basis in fact. There has been no precipating event. No big moment where something awful happened stands out in our memory. Dates, times and places do not necessarily define the cause. It's just there. For me, I can pinpoint certain 'things' that happened in my past that may be contributing factors, but there is, again, no one thing. It's an accumulation, I think, of events, dates, people, situations, that cause the hopelessness called rejection to take root in our minds, and which robs of us interactions and successes at different times in our lives. 

I remember when I was little, almost all the girls in my grade school classes excelled in gym class. Not me. I couldn't even do a real somersault, and don't even go there about cartwheels! I was not especially well-balanced (physically!) so was extremely uncomfortable about pushing my head under my belly and flipping over in a graceful and 'safe' manner. Even with kind hands guiding me, I tended to be afraid I would break my neck or something far worse. Ultimately, the other girls would laugh, not in a mean manner, but it was laughter just the same. My cartwheels...well, I would end up facing in the completely opposite direction, and my legs never would go all the way up in the air. I shudder even today to think what that must have looked like!

I was never good enough to excel in anything growing up. I was not top dog in my grades, though I did alright. I never got the part in the school plays, never got to be the singer in the musicals, never got much hand clapping or praise at my piano recitals. My piano teacher even told me I would never be a player like my cousin Jerry, who had long, graceful fingers compared to my short stubby ones, and who eventually went on to be a concert pianist. My teacher was good to me, but that sentence spoken to me took root. And I applied it to everything I attempted to do. 

We put ourselves in boxes because of what others say about us. We actually allow that, and maybe some of us even welcome it, because there is our excuse when we do fail at something. 'I never do anything right', 'Why would I think this time would be different?', or even, 'Some things never change'.  We set ourselves up for failure, simply because we have accepted the lie the enemy started whispering to us when we were young. And we pattern our lives around that lie, and it eventually stunts emotional and physical well-being, offering them up in sacrifice to a truth that is not the truth.

In Genesis 46:3-4, God gives an example of how He will intercede for us, His own children, and how He will make us successful. So why is it that we do not listen and learn from what He has told us? There are many examples throughout the Bible of God lifting us up from our insecurities, dangers, and failures. He will do today what He did then. We must simply read, meditate, and believe. 

When we allow ourselves to feel rejection, when we think we can't do that thing we want to do, that we cannot succeed at something that deep down we knowwe are equipped to do, we are then putting God in a box. He does not belong there, and He will not stay there. But He came, and He came to give us life, and more abundantly. Read John 10:10. Jesus tells us what the 'thief' is up to, how he is out to steal all good things from us, but Jesus already has great news for us.

Live today like you are the most successful of the successful. Renew your spirit in God's Holy Word, and believe in who He says you are. When we allow Him to make the path we walk upon, then when we arrive at our destination, there will be joy and thanksgiving. And rejection will be just another word in the dictionary!