Lessons of Rejection

We all experience some type of rejection in our lifetime.  Whether it's a no response to the note you passed in third grade (check yes or no), or that dreaded letter you receive from you university of choice, there is no easy part to rejection.  No matter how many times it happens, there's always that point where the world just seems to crumble around you.  

Some people experience more rejection than others.  Those of us in that category have the process down pat.  We wince in pain when we hear things like "when one door closes, another one opens", we develop plans of distraction so we don't have to think about it so much, and usually we either just tell everyone at once that the rejection happened or we hide it from the world by becoming pros at changing the subject whenever someone asks about it.  

I've become a pro at rejection.  I'm pretty confident that in my lifetime I have received a ton more "no's" then "yes'", but then I'm sure we all feel that way.  I get rejected a lot, but recently I received a rejection that really hit me hard. I'm a pessimist, and so like a any good pessimist, I always prepare for that "no", but when it comes to certain things in life, you can prepare all you want, but as soon as you see it in print, the pain still comes.

The surprising thing is that I think I have learned more from this rejection than any other in my life.  Here's a few things I've learned from rejection. 

•  There is a plan, and you might have no idea what that plan is, and it will probably take 10 years until you can look back and have that "eureka" moment where it all makes sense, but there is a plan.  Jeremiah 29:11 is overused, but it's still true, "'For I know the plans I have for you,' says the Lord. 'They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.'"  He's got a plan, you just have to have faith.

• It's important to have friends around you that don't give you sympathy.  Sympathy won't get you anywhere, but truthful love will.  Personally I respond best to tough love and I am blessed to have people around me that are very good at it.  They gave a word of encouragement and then a second later they asked what plan B was and the timeline for it.  There's a time for mourning and sympathy, but it shouldn't be a long time.  The longer you stay there, the more comfortable you become.  You need to have friends that look you in the eye and tell you to get moving.  If you don't have people around you that do that, you need better friends. 

• The next steps will show you your character.  Do you give up or do you learn from the rejection and move forward?  You might not see the next step in front of you, but you still have to take it.  Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. said "Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase." 

Rejection is something we all experience.  It's usually considered a bad thing, but honestly it can be the best thing that ever happened to you.  There have been plans that I set up that have been completely shut down on me, and today I can truthfully look back and praise God that they were.   My plan A's have been crushed, but there is always plan B, and then if that doesn't work, there's always C, D, E, F...  Don't let rejection crush you, because most times, it's simply that obstacle that you can overcome, and once you do, you are better for it.  

The New that Never Gets Old.

New beginnings, new chances, new adventures... it's time for a new year.  In our culture, we love new.  A new item comes out and we HAVE to have it (I mean there are lines for the new iPhone...).  New cars, new people, new significant other, new place, we are always looking for that new "new". 

As singles, it's easy to get the new adventures.  We have the freedom to look for a new special someone, new adventure, new job, and even a new location.  But then comes that feeling for something new that we can't always get so easily, the wanting for a spouse and even children.  We see our friends moving to that stage in life, and instead of loving the fact that we can go on vacation on the drop of a dime, we start wanting that companionship and responsibility of taking care of someone else.  That's a new that is (sometimes) out of our reach. 

For some of us that new feeling is a time for, well, something new.  It really could be time for a new job, location, or even to try a new way to meet that someone special.  For others, it's a feeling that we think we need to fill, but really just to overcome.  Either way, that new won't come immediately, which is when a new feeling comes, a feeling of defeat.  You start to feel complacent and frustrated.  You look to fill that feeling with other new stuff.  My favorite is clothes, I mean new clothes makes everything better?!  But then a day later the frustrated feelings are back and we're back to square one.

There is one truth that will help with all of it, God makes all things new.  Lamentations 3:22-23 says, "Through the LORD's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassion fail not.  They are new every morning, great is thy faithfulness." 

God already gives us the new slate, the new adventure, every day He makes us new.  His newness (I know it's not a word, but you know what I mean) is the only "new" that will fill the desire we feel.  He already makes us new every day, we just have to let Him.  The best part of it all?  His new never gets old. 

Happy NEW Year Folks!