Rejecting Rejection...

I want to dedicate this blog post to a very sweet friend who recently shared some things with me. So, sweet girl, this one is for you. :)

She shook her head in dismay at herself as she threw her phone into her book bag. She just couldn't do it, she couldn't send the text. She was so afraid of the rejection that may wait in the responses she would receive. In frustration she picked up her bag and walked out her door to head to class. As she trudged up the sidewalk to her building she had one of those "angel and demon" moments. On her left shoulder appeared what looked like an evil Jimminy Cricket, he sneered as he said, "Don't even bother sending that text. No one wants to eat with you. You don't even have any real friends. No one even likes you!" As she was pondering those words a voice from her right shoulder caught her attention, "You know that's not true. You know that you do have friends and that they love you and care about you very much! Just send the text, don't be afraid. After all, sometimes people are simply busy, but that's ok, you are too sometimes!" With those words she was suddenly filled with a new confidence, and she walked to class the rest of the way with a jump in her step and a smile on her face. When she got to class she took her phone out of her bag and let her finger glide of the send button, fear suddenly gripping her, once again. As the bell rang loudly she tossed her phone back into her bag, a feeling of defeat hanging over her. In her psychology class the topic of friendship among adolescence came up. The discussion in the class peaked her interest as the ideas of rejection and annoyance among friends came up. By the end of the class hour her courage was once again revived and as she left she took her phone out of her bag, and before she could think about it, she sent that text. She waited with anticipation as the message was sent to twelve different people, there was a possibility for so many different responses. After what seemed like an eternity, the responses poured in. Some "no", some "I'm busy, sorry :(" and some "Can't today." Her heart began to sink, she almost gave up. Just as she was about to throw her phone back into her bag her phone lit up again with a new message. She opened it with caution, but smiled at the joyful response, "Of course, I would love to meet you for lunch! :)" She put her phone in her bag and walked to her next class with confidence and the joy of not being rejected. 

While this story may seem trivial to you dear reader, please don't check out for the next few moments of reading, simply because you believe that none of this applies to you. The truth is, we all at one point or another have had this fear, and there has been a point and time where we have been the other person on the other end of that text. The truth is a fear of rejection is natural for us as humans. For some the fear lies in rejection from Co-workers or family members. For me, personally, my fear lies in my friendships. Rejection is something we observe through history, but the one thing that really comes to my mind when I think about this concept of rejection is my God and how He was once greatly rejected. Jesus Christ came to earth for one purpose, to be the Savior of the world, to be our very best friend, and yet on a daily basis Christ was rejected by just about everyone and He is still rejected now. The greatest thing about Christ, though, is that He holds no grudges for being rejected. Rather, He opens His loving arms and welcomes us to come to Him and allow Him to be our best friend. So maybe, even though this feeling of rejection is something that comes naturally to us in our human nature, it' time for a perspective check. Realizing the fact that we may be rejected by man, but not rejected by an Almighty God who loves us so much He willingly suffered daily rejection in order for us to have the opportunity to spend the rest of our lives with Him needs to have an impact on us. So, the next time you are feeling a little bit rejected, or even a lot rejected, look at your perspective. Do you have the perspective of being always alone or do you have the perspective of knowing there is a God who will never reject you? Simply because of that fact you are never alone, even when none of those texts come back with a yes.