Have you ever walked into a room full of people, and felt the depth of piercing eyes stinging all over you?? Staring, whispering and more staring…No one approaches you; there is perfect unwelcome silence…

You stand there totally flabbergasted, rejected and embarrassed… frantically looking down and about for a gorge into which you can escape into nothingness??

The word ‘REJECTION’ brings a medley of profound reactions in many of us mere mortals. So many of us have been rejected myriad times, leaving us in irrevocable pain, sadness, and embarrassment, that sometimes  it leads to deep rooted damage that shrouds our entire persona.

Let us listen to this story of a ‘certain unfortunate lady’ who considers herself the most rejected in this world. Quite naturally she wondered aloud, ‘‘is it permitted by my Lord?’’

A seemingly ‘‘happily married woman’’, she is treated nothing less than a servant at home by her husband and her in – laws. Deeply wounded, and in mental anguish, she lives her life in frustration and despair. Constantly being accused of being sluggish, clumsy and unintelligent, she is showered with heaps of allegations and apathy by her life partner and the people surrounding her. She craves for a drop of appreciation from somewhere, anywhere…

The pangs of sorrow are unimaginable; the wounds too deep to be healed…

The very people she loved dearly, prayed for, and cared for, completely rejected her!

Is this known by the Lord?

In deep distress she cried out to God, ‘‘Dear Lord, I am going through this terrible agony of rejection. I am not valued by my own husband or my children, or my in-laws. I am mocked for my appearance, humility, and ignorance. I wish I could die so that they know my worth at least for a day!’’

Is it permitted by the lord?

Don’t we wonder what our God’s reaction is to this heart breaking and silent persecution that she is going through?

God created us in such a way that we have this innate desire to be accepted, appreciated, and loved just as we are.

How alluring and enchanting the world would have been if everyone accepted each other in all their imperfections! But things were not meant to be so splendid…

Story of Jeremiah’s Rejection

Prophet Jeremiah in his biography, throws some light into the feeling of ‘Rejection’, and how he endured the worst form of this emotion and came out of it victorious, as a ‘Mighty Servant of God’.  

Jeremiah 20: 18 Why did I come forth from the womb to see toil and sorrow, and spend my days in shame?

Worldly Rejection is not Akin to Divine Rejection

Today my dear friends, if you are going through a life of sorrow, toil, shame, rejection, and worthlessness, you might want to know that Prophet Jeremiah went through these same kinds of agony mighty long years ago.

As Jeremiah cried out in pain and torment, The Lord spoke to him:

Jeremiah 20:11 – But the Lord is with me like a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble, and they will not prevail. They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed. Their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten.

When we go through slander, exclusion, and suffering, our God stands steadfast beside us like a solid rock.

How then does God permit this torture? God permits rejection to condemn the world we live in.

1 Corinthians 1:27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong

When we face worldly rejection, we mistake it as a divine rejection from God, and move into a cocoon to nurse our wounds in isolation. Human approval and appreciation are of utmost value to us, that we forget that our feeling of worthlessness arises only because we do not understand that God appreciates what the world does not! We measure our usefulness based on the amount of acceptance we get from this world.

James 4:4 –Adulterers! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

The world we live in and God’s world are opposites. If the world is appreciating you, God is definitely not! We simply do not belong to this world. Sounds very complex, doesn’t it?

Thankfully the Bible has many convincing explanations and scriptures to explain this concept quite effectively.

During the time of the life of Prophet Jeremiah, there were many other prophets who engaged in prophesying, mainly to please and get the approval of the kings of those days.

Jeremiah was completely rejected and never consulted for anything whatsoever. The kings and people of the land called him a terror and a sign of disgrace. However, if you look at the life of Jeremiah, we see that he was highly approved and fevered by the Lord Almighty.

Therefore just because you are rejected by the whole world, does not really mean that God has rejected you. Our Lord observes everything and everyone!

The Story of Leah and Rachel

In The Old Testament, we see that Jacob had two wives, Leah and Rachel.

Genesis 29:31-When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, he opened her womb; but Rachel was barren.

Do you think that the silent sorrow of Leah was overlooked and unobserved by God? No!

The Almighty God made Leah fruitful, and Rachel barren so that Leah was exalted from her state of rejection into a higher state of bloom. However, even after Leah bore a child for Jacob, he refused to love and accept her. She conceived again by the grace of God and bore yet another son for Jacob.

We see Leah making this statement in Genesis 29:33: “Because the Lord has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also”; and she named him Simeon.

Let this Word of God sink deep inside your heart! Do you think the rejection, agony and sidelining you face are unnoticed by God? Never So!

The Lord’s eyes are 10,000 times brighter than the sun. He never misses a point.

St. Alphonsa

St. Alphonsa was an Indian Catholic nun from Kerala. Treated like a house help because she was not well educated and sickly, she went through a lot of pain, suffering and rejection throughout her lifetime. The Lord observed her rejection and exalted her to the throne of the first woman saint of India.

Our God wants to condemn this world we live in. He wants us to take our eyes off this world and look towards Him. This is how we come to know the meaning and purpose of His vocation.

If you look at the life that you are going through, the struggle, the afflictions, the renunciations; believe that you have an all- knowing God. He observes the pain, the agony, and the rejection you are going through. We must be keenly aware that we do not belong to this world or need this world’s appreciation.

If the world is rejecting you, take it as a great honor, as there’s definitely a purpose behind this rejection. God has a greater plan, all laid out elaborately for you at the Banquet table!

When Moses a poor servant of God, inarticulate and stammering, is not heard by the Pharaoh, the Lord tells him in Exodus 11:9

 “Pharaoh will not listen to you, in order that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”

 If you are rejected by your loved ones, be aware that your respect comes only from God. There is a greater honour that God has reserved for you in heaven, when you suffer on earth. It is for you to decide if you prefer acclamation on this earth, or in heaven. If your status does not change on earth, it only implies that you do not belong to this world.

Maria Valtorta writes in her book ‘’The Poem of the Man-God’’– No job deserves two salaries. If you have received appreciation on earth, do not expect it up in heaven.

The Lord himself says in John 15: 19:

If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world—therefore the world hates you.

Why does the world, or your own life partner hate you? Because, you do not belong to this world or this world’s appreciation. You belong to God. All appreciations and approvals that we get on earth will unfortunately de- link us from the heavenly things that are above.

Colossians 3:2- Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

Psalm 38:19-20 declares to us that if you do good, you will be hated and rejected by the world, and will go through agony and sorrow. The world rejects you because you live for God and God permits it as He wants you to become His best adversary.

Life of David

In Psalm 88:8-9, we read that king David himself is making a prayer to the Lord. God makes a great revelation to him.

You have caused my companions to shun me; you have made me a thing of horror to them. I am shut in so that I cannot escape;

Look at the life of King David. He was a king, but his own children turned against him. Saul for whom he fought too turned against him.

David was running for his dear life from the same people whom he helped and protected in times of need. However, now we know why David was rejected and abused by his own people. The lord was making him a King after His own heart.

Acts 13:22-   I have found David, son of Jesse, to be a man after my heart, who will carry out all my wishes.

Why and how did David become a man of God’s own heart? David cried out when Saul and Jonathan were killed. But who were Saul and Jonathan?

Saul and Jonathan tried to kill David. However, David refrained from taking revenge on them even though they mistreated him and showered abuses on him. This is why God calls him ‘A Man of His own Heart’. It was a revelation to David that the God that he believes in is a God of his own, who caused his friends to turn away from him.

When David came to know that he cannot rely on anyone, he put his complete trust in God, and he came to know that it is God who caused all his rejections, to be exalted to higher glory.

When we go though the same kind of rejection in our life, dwell upon the thought that God caused this rejection and agony to happen to us, so that we become His chosen people. Our God is making us a servant of His own Heart.

Psalm 113-7-He raises the poor from the dust, and lifts the needy from the ash heap

Psalm 113-7- to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people.

For Him you are so precious and priceless. You are valued by your God so He is always preserving you as His most precious Jewel.

David was a cowboy, a shepherd .His own father did not remember that he had such a son because David was treated like dust. But, His God lifted him to sit with princes and raised him to the status of ‘David the King’.

This is the power of our God. God permits rejections so that we put our trust completely, absolutely and unconditionally in him and not in any human system. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. This slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen, but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.

Isn’t it wonderful that our Lord does not want even a wicked person to be lost?

Ezekiel 33:11^_  Say to them, As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from their ways and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of Israel?

How to overcome Rejection

How can you overcome these feelings of rejection? This unwanted feeling that the world throws at us?

 The only way to overcome rejection is to reject the cares and worries of this world completely.

Your feeling of rejection is a sign that you love this world much more than you love God. If you are wounded from the comments of your near and dear, you are still attached to this world and appreciate it. The lord permits this kind of agony so that you may detach from this world and look towards his Heavenly Abode. Unless you reject this world, you fail to become a true partner or disciple of the God Almighty.

Luke 14:26 -Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.

Judith

What was the greatness and glory of Judith?

Judith 13:20 says -May God grant this to be a perpetual honor to you, and may he reward you with blessings, because you risked your own life when our nation was brought low, and you averted our ruin, walking in the straight path before our God.” And all the people said, “Amen. Amen.”

Judith was a Jewish widow, who uses her beauty and charm to destroy an Assyrian general and save Israel from oppression. Judith took the risk to go to the place of the enemy and killed them, risking her own life. Judith did not love her life more than the life of her people.

In the same way, if you love yourself, you will be greatly impaired. The Lord is comparing our life to His life. We are expected to live a life exactly as that of the life of  Jesus. He lived in this world, but did not belong here. Jesus categorically said that my kingdom is not that of this world below, but of High above.

So, every time we feel the pain of rejection or emptiness in this world, we must realize that we have not yet become the Lord’s.

Who is our God?

Hebrews 12:29-Our indeed our God is a consuming fire.

His love is like a fire and once it enters you, you will be delivered from the affliction of rejection, feeling of worthlessness, suicidal tendencies, feeling that you have never been respected and what not!

Once you have consumed the fire of God, you will become an entirely new creation. God permits certain afflictions in our life in order to be consumed by His fire

It is only the sinners who are attached to this world who will feel ashamed to be detached from worldly pleasures. Those who are attached to human appreciation, human love, and human fame will be reluctant to detach from their earthly dwelling.

But, there are also people who are living in this world who have been consumed by the devouring fire of God, living a life in God and His everlasting glory.

Who among us can live with devouring, everlasting fire?

Isaiah 33:15 -Those who walk righteously and speak uprightly,who despise the gain of oppression,who wave away a bribe instead of accepting it,who stop their ears from hearing of bloodshed and shut their eyes from looking on evil

Isaiah 33:16-  they will live on the heights;their refuge will be the fortresses of rocks;their food will be supplied, their water assured.

The lord is assuring His people that those who do not take pleasure in the affairs of the world are the people who will live in this all consuming fire in the Lord

The Lord is inviting us to the ‘All Consuming Fire’, where all inordinate passions and desires will be consumed, and you are transformed into a true servant of God.

For attaining this, we must go through several afflictions in this world. However, God will never give you a temptation or testing beyond your capacity. Our God is a faithful God. With the testing, he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it without much suffering.

Today the Lord wants you to reflect; are you feeling unwanted? Are you a beloved person of God?  The more afflictions you go through, the closer to Him we get.

Sometimes the Lord blocks certain friendships that we cherish, certain appreciations and associations that we crave for, certain relationships that we pine for, so that you may become closer to him

James 1:2 My brothers and sisters ,whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy

The Lord tells you today that when your loved one is rejecting you, or talking against you, consider it nothing but pure joy! This is the time when you are releasing yourself to God. His ever watchful eye is covering you with compassion and love that are beyond this world…