One of the greatest obstacles that we deal with as people is rejection. Rejection means: to refuse to accept, use, or believe something or someone. Many of us at some time in our lives have dealt with rejection; possibly by a parent, a spouse, a leader, a clique, or a club. The question is, how do I handle it when I am being rejected? It all starts with knowing that no matter what, you are always and forever accepted by God.

Ephesians 1:4-6 (NKJV) says, …just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. See, rejection is not being accepted…which means people wouldn’t choose you; but these Scriptures show us that not only does God accept you, but He chose you. That means He looked at you and liked what He saw! He made a decision to choose you to be a part of His family. This is amazing, since most of the time when God finds us, we are not in a good condition. The condition of a 50 dollar bill does not take away its value, so no matter what condition we were in when the Lord chose us, we still hold our value. This is one of the things that rejection attacks; it makes us devalue ourselves. Devalue means: reduce or underestimate the worth or importance of. I come to tell you, don’t let the rejection of others devalue you. You are still valuable!

When we look at the Bible, we see many cases of people being rejected by men; but then we see that those rejected by men are usually the ones accepted by God. One of my favorite stories is the story of King David. Before he became King, he dealt with serious rejection. He was rejected by his own father, and he was rejected by his brothers. There came a day when God was looking for the next King of Israel, and the Lord highlighted David’s house to the Prophet Samuel. Then, there was a ceremony to anoint one of David’s brothers. David was so rejected that he was not even invited to the ceremony. Finally, because God rejected what man thought He accepted, they finally had no choice but to recognize that David was chosen by God. 1 Samuel 16:11-12 (NKJV):  And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all the young men here?” Then he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him. For we will not sit down till he comes here.” So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with bright eyes, and good-looking. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!” I am sure the house was shocked by the selection of God. Make sure you never interpret the rejection of men to mean the rejection of God.

As we look at the life of our Lord, we see that He too faced rejection. Look at what Isaiah 53:3 (KJV) says: He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Can you believe that our Lord Jesus was rejected? And it wasn’t just from the religious crowd; He was rejected by the people that He helped and delivered. Hmmm!!!

Look at this turnaround Scripture for Jesus in Psalms 118:22 (NKJV): The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief corner stone. So I don’t minimize rejection, because it is a very painful experience… but make a decision today: I am not going to walk in the rejection of men, but in the acceptance of God!

Be Blessed!