Overcoming Rejection

Rejection is the worst type of human emotion available to man. It is excruciating when you are rejected due to something that is completely out of your control. Our Lord and Saviour experienced rejection. He was rejected for healing people, for bringing truth and for setting people free from demonic oppression. He was rejected for the good He did.

For instance, when you apply for a job that you are clearly qualified for and you get to the final round in the recruitment process, you are optimistic that you will be selected. You put in your best effort in preparing for the interview, but if you are rejected at the final round for whatever reason, you may lose your confidence and feel like a failure. There are people still hurting from being jilted in a previous relationship and this trauma prevents them from moving on into a new relationship. 

Rejection is painful and unless you know who you are in the Lord it can cause you to fall into a state of depression, inferiority complex, self pity and bitterness. We must be careful that we do not allow whatever form of rejection we have experienced to define who we are. Our identity is in Christ, not in circumstances and people. It was prophesied in Isaiah 53:3 that Christ would be rejected ‘He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.’ Although Christ experienced rejection throughout the gospels (even at the height of rejection in Pilate’s court right before He was crucified) He still spoke of who He was, He did not question his identity because of the rejection He experienced. In John 18:36 Pilate asked Jesus ‘are you the King of the Jews?’  Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” He is the King, but His kingdom is not of this world. His identity wasn’t lost in the rejection. Instead, He stood, and continued to proclaim the truth. Jesus proclaimed truth despite being rejected. Through it all He remained focused. 

Worse still, the very same people who had welcomed Jesus into the city with palm branches while he rode on a donkey very quickly turned around and screamed ‘crucify Him!’ It hurts deeply when people who stood for you or when people you think have your back  turn against you. But let’s learn from Christ’s attitude. The rejection was simply part of the story, it’s not the end. At the end of the day, those who reject Christ are the ones who need mercy, not Christ. Psalm 118:22 ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’.

Take this same attitude when you experience rejection in any area of your life, proclaim the truth and stand in it. Our Lord experienced rejection  even though He was perfect. It should be no surprise that while you walk on this earth you will experience rejection in different forms. It could be because of your skin colour, race, ethnicity, social status, your past, success, failure and for absolutely no reason. As a Christian it shouldn’t surprise you when you are rejected  because of your faith. John 15:18; ‘If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.’ A big danger is to try to fit in after you have experienced rejection. Imagine if Jesus tried to take back or hide the fact that He is the Christ just so people would accept Him, victory would not have been achieved. Avoid the temptation to fit in, it is a snare orchestrated to water down your identity in Christ. A popular quote states that ‘If you live for people’s acceptance you will die from their rejection’. You are who God says you are. Amid your rejection, speak of what Christ has done for you and who He has made you to be. You are not defined by who or what has rejected you, you are defined by what God has said about you. People may reject you, but always remember that God will never reject or forsake you.

 Psalm 94:14 For the LORD will not reject his people; he will never forsake his inheritance.