Releasing the Spirit of Rejection

Being someone who has felt the pangs of rejection I wouldn’t want anyone to think I take the topic lightly, but just for a second let me share something from the word of God that I find confusing. Most of us, whether we grew up in church or not, have heard of Jonah and “the whale.” When you actually read the book of Jonah, you discover that the Bible actually calls Jonah’s vehicle to purpose a big fish. Why would I call a fish a vehicle? Because Jonah had an assignment to go and preach the word to Ninevah, but he ran in the opposite direction and it took a big fish sent by God to deliver him to exactly where he was supposed to be. That’s not the confusing part. I didn’t realize how sour Jonah was about his assignment until the last chapter of the book. He preached the word, the people repented, and God forgave the people of Ninevah. Had I preached a life changing word, I’m pretty sure that I would have been excited. Not Jonah. He resented the fact that the people responded to his message. So let me get this straight. Your message was impactful and you’re still sour?? What does this have to do with rejection? Often we are surprised when the people we know reject us. Maybe they didn’t support our dreams as they were coming to fruition. Maybe once we reached our goals the people we thought would celebrate with us blatantly ignored our successes. I’ve been there and heard silent applause. But Jonah, the deliverer of the message, rejected the people. That is deeper than deep. In this case Jonah rejected the people assigned to him and didn’t celebrate them coming to accepting God. Have you been there? Have you rejected people you were assigned to bless? People in our families, people we work with or go to school with. People we just don’t connect with. I think of it as living in silos. We connect with people superficially through social media and other means, but what about face to face? Do we really support their dreams and desire to keep them encouraged? Just as we feel the sting of rejection, all of us have done just that to someone else. Today was one of those days I was anticipating running into someone who felt like I rejected him. I didn’t run into him, but what would I have done if I did? My son prayed for me before I left the house, and I prayed as I was driving to my destination. This is a blog with no answers, but I will leave you with a request. Before you fall into the depths of despair about someone rejecting you, first remember the people that you have rejected. Don’t stay in that place, but remember you are not alone. Second, remember that sometimes rejection is God’s way of protecting you from someone who may not mean you well. It’s easy to be angry and/or upset at begin slighted, but what if God saw red flags that you didn’t? Here’s what I told someone earlier this week. You keep flying with eagles and trust God to handle the rest. We can’t worry about who likes us and who doesn’t. Our assignment…let’s do it to the glory of God.