Changing Your Mindset: Rejection Is God's Protection
“‘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’” (Jeremiah 29:11 NLT).
Coping with Rejection
Let’s be honest. . . rejection does not feel good. It can be discouraging, frustrating, and push us to the point of wanting to quit.
And sometimes, we do.
Because sometimes, rejection feels like a shove in the opposite direction. Like a giant neon sign flashing, “THIS ISN’T YOUR CALLING!”
And when we face what feels like a dead end—rejection after rejection piling up into a wall in front of us—sometimes we just want to collapse in a puddle of sobs on the floor and shake our fists in anger. Because where do we go from there?
It’s hard not to get frustrated, take the rejection personally, and think, “This is it. There’s nothing else out there for me.”
Changing Your Mindset: Rejection Can Be Protection
But I want you to imagine, for a minute, almost any cartoon where a character sees a big sign across a road that says, “Danger! Keep out!” Typically, they’re barreling toward the end of the road at an unstoppable speed (or just not paying attention) and cut right through whatever barrier was put in place to try to stop them.
And then what happens? They’re flying off a cliff. They’re driving head-first into a danger zone of mines or other things that could hurt them. They find themselves in a world of hurt because they didn’t pay attention and stop!
Sometimes, the rejection we face in life is just like those big signs in the cartoons. We don’t always see what’s on the other side, but God does. The rejections are protections put in place to try to stop us from a world of hurt. Because at the end of the day, the Lord has good in store for us.
What You Believe About God Is Important
“I know the plans I have for you . . . plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11 NLT).
If we believe that God is good and has good in store for us, then every sign—every rejection that says KEEP OUT!—is a guardrail and guide, pointing us into the best version of our life. He’s giving us guardrails to keep us going in the best direction, to the right people, places, and opportunities that will be even better than we ever imagined.
There is good in store. . . we just have to pay attention.
Don’t Force Your Way Over God’s Way
Are you barreling through those dead ends and warning signs, determined to make your own path despite what the Holy Spirit says?
My prayer this week is that we ask the Lord to open our eyes to what He’s doing and how He’s guiding us. I pray that we see clearly where God is stopping us in our tracks. I pray we pause and pray at each dead end rather than barrel through at full speed. I pray that we come to Him with our questions and our doubts (and even our frustrations!) and ask Him to point us in the right direction.
It’s okay to be frustrated. It’s okay to have questions. But let’s turn our grumbling to gratitude because He has good in store!
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Cathe Laurie is the founder and director of the Virtue women’s ministry. She is also a featured speaker on The Virtue Podcast, at Harvest events, and the author of As I See It. You can find her weekly articles here on harvest.org.
