Rejection or Divine Redirection?

Let's talk about the r-word.

Rejection.

Ouch. It hurts just thinking about it.

Everyone feels rejected at some point. Life isn't always about acceptance, you know. People aren't gonna like you 100% of the time. Maybe it's 'cause you accidentally cut them off in traffic. Maybe you pointed out a flaw in their logic. Maybe you're doing the best you can and for whatever reason, they just really don't like you. Or, it could be, you're doing your absolute best to reach out, be the light, be Jesus to everyone around you, and they reject you for it. Whatever the reason, you end up feeling rejected, dejected, and that ain't a fun place to be.

And you know who one of the most rejected-feeling groups of people is in this world?

Youth.

They got ALL this junk going on with their bodies, school, peer group, etc. They're trying to navigate through the ins and outs of becoming young adults, becoming more responsible, while also having the expectations that this world thrusts upon young people, to be irresponsible, make mistakes and live it up as much as possible. It's a nightmare. We're supposed to have fun in high school, make friends, be crazy teenagers, and then suddenly seventeen and eighteen hits and, whoa, we're supposed to have jobs, get college degrees and know exactly what we wanna do with our lives? You're crazy. This world is jacked up. Like, hon, it don't work like that, there are some habits that gotta be formed before we can effectively do that, yo.

Oh, and did I mention the whole being a Christian thing? When you're a Christian, you automatically stand out from the crowd. You will get rejected for what you believe, whether you're actively telling people about what you believe or not. It's just the world we live in.

But don't let rejection stop you from being who God's called you to be. If God has called you to preach, don't let discouragement from your peers to "shut up about this Jesus thing" stop you from continuing to talk about Jesus. If God's called you to reach your friends and teach Bible studies, don't let anyone's rejection of what the Bible says stop you from continuing to look for someone who will accept it.

It all comes down to this, guys: Sometimes, it's not rejection, sometimes it's a divine redirection. Sometimes, that rejection saves you from wasting time on people who really don't want it, and forces you to go find the ones who really want the truth. Sometimes, that rejection you get sets you up to do what God meant for you to do in the first place.

You have to perceive it differently. Jesus said that when you get rejected, shake the dust off your feet and keep going. He already told us we'd get rejected just for being His followers. But there are people who desperately need and want this beautiful Gospel we've been given. There are people that only you can reach, and who are you to deny them of their chance at Heaven, just because you were rejected?

I understand. Rejection hurts. It's hard getting your hopes up only to have them crushed, to really go after something you want only to see all your plans fall apart. It's hard to try to reach out to someone who seems like they need, no, they want help, but they reject your help. And then what about next time? What if you try to reach out to someone else and they slap your hand away like that other person did before? Yeeoosh. The prospect of rejection can freeze even the strongest warrior. You're not alone in feeling it or fearing it.

But don't let that fear, or that feeling of having been rejected, stop you from being who God called you to be, trying to go after God's plans for your life, from reaching out to people around you. Rejection is that testing ground to see how much you believe what God told you. It's the fire that'll burn the things that won't stand and leave the things that will. Rejection can show you what you need to work on if you let it. It can spin you around, and then push you towards someone else. Yeah, man, it's painful. But it's not the end. There's life after rejection, there's something we're supposed to do afterward. We can sit in a corner and sulk about how someone rejected us, or we can rise above it and try to find someone who wants to hear about Jesus.

For me, rejection makes me reevaluate everything. That can be good and bad, you already know what the bad is so I won't go into that. The good: what do I do now? What's the next step, where do I go from here? Like they say, when you hit rock bottom, the only way to go next is up. What's that for you? Or better yet: who is that for you? Who else do you think just might want a Bible study, or might want to come to church, or might want to hang out with you and the youth group?

You know something? Rejection, much as it hurt, might be our best teacher. 'Cause sometimes, it'll redirect us from people who don't want it to people who do. Sometimes, it's not rejection. Sometimes, it's a divine redirection.