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I am excited to introduce you to a series that continues for eight weeks with three of my incredible friends. As of now, I plan to share a “Lessons from the Lake” Video  on the topic as well.  Check out both videos, the first is the introduction to the series, and the second is a little  bit about the topic for the week and my thoughts on it.

  • Please note: The videos are not the same as the written content below it.

Together we will share insight, challenges, and our faith through our journeys of perseverance. Please join myself, Mary GeisenHolly Barrett, and Patricia Krank as we learn from each other and share encouragement with our own stories of perseverance.

                 

Part 1 in the Perseverance series (Bravely Overcoming Fear) can be found HERE, Part 2 (Persevering in Recovery) can be found HERE,  Part 3 (When Prayers Remain Unanswered) can be found HERE   …

Now, it’s my turn!  Today is week 4 in a 8 week series on Perseverance.  Read below as I share how we can persevere through the sting of rejection.

 

[Tweet “Come join @MyOldThingsNew, @HollySBarrett, @MaryGeisen and me for week 4 in a series on #perseverance.”]

 

Perseverance through Rejection

The little girl wandered the yard looking for pretty white daisies, but she began collecting dandelions instead. Finally, when she had as many she could find without venturing too far, she walked to the very edge of the grass toward the rock retaining wall that overlooked the property.

 

Making her way past the grass and through the bushes she plopped her little bottom down and scooted right to the very edge.  She was careful to not lose her balance or the precious “flowers” she had just picked.   As she sat precariously on the edge she gingerly picked up a dandelion and began to pluck its petals, one at a time. Ever so softly she whispered … “They love me, they love me not.  They love me …. They love me not….” This continued until that bright yellow flower had no more petals to pull.  Then she picked up the next dandelion and did the same thing, making a pile to one side of ‘they love me’, and to the other side a pile of ‘they love me not’.

 

 

Did you ever do this as a child?

 

I did.  In fact the above little girl is me. The scene above is one you would have seen me participating in over the years.  As I pulled the petals one by one from those poor dandelion weeds, I so desperately needed to have the outcome be, “Yes”, yes they did love me. As I grew older, I would sit at the very edge of that wall, overlooking the neighborhood tormenting the poor dandelions once again, only this time wondering and daydreaming if this boy or that boy loved me.

 

A silly childhood game to some, but to me, one that I so desperately depended upon to give my little girl self the assurance that she was loved and accepted by those around her.

 

Have you ever experienced the sting of rejection?

 

The truth is, at some point in all our lives we will feel the sting of rejection, whether it be from family, a crush, a friend, or even a total stranger.  Maybe you have felt the sting of rejection by not getting picked, or getting picked last. Maybe you felt rejected from the person who unsubscribed from your blog, or maybe you didn’t get the job you so desperately wanted.

 

Rejection is no respecter of persons, it affects us all, just in different ways and to different extremes.

 

Rejection can blind us to the truth and place seeds that grow roots that entangle many areas of our life and heart.

 

The roots and seeds of encounters with rejection are very much like dandelions.  Dandelions have roots that twist and turn going very deep into the ground.  When you pluck them, and try to root them out, it seems over time they spring back up.

 

Why?  Because those dandelion roots twist and turn and go deep into the ground.  If you don’t take the time to dig them up and root them out, they have enough sustenance in them to come back again and again.  For dandelion weeds not to return, we must take the whole root out, leaving nothing behind.

 

 

The same is true of rejection.  Rejection needs to be dealt with at the root of the issue, otherwise, it will keep coming back again and again.  In fact, it comes back so much so that we begin to reject others before they can reject us.

 

For me, the root of rejection began before I was even born, I just didn’t know it until years later.  As a little girl, I did not look to people to tell me I was loved and accepted, but instead to a flower and its petals.  It may seem strange to you, but when you have been rejected you don’t even dare trust others and you sure as heck don’t want to ask them if they love you, you just assume it’s best not to know the truth.

 

I was an innocent unborn child when the first seeds of rejection were planted in my life.  The seeds came simply because my father’s family didn’t want me.  You see, they had issues of their own.  My dad was the man of the family and had been so since he was 15, and they didn’t want him to have a family of his own.  It would change everything.

 

 

As a kid, I had no idea why one aunt didn’t like me or my mother, and yet she would later love my sister.  I had no idea why my grandma was less than kind to my mom and hard and abrasive to me.  I would not have used the word rejected. Instead I would say I felt unwanted, unworthy, not accepted, and not loved.

 

When I would read Scripture like Jeremiah 29:11,

 

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (ESV).

 

I had a hard time believing that God had any plans for my life, let alone good ones.  I had an even harder time believing that God loved me and wouldn’t reject me too. I figured that if my own family didn’t want me, then neither would God.

 

Rejection causes us to look for love in all the wrong places. I looked for love and acceptance by being all things to all people, which leads to people pleasing issues. I looked for acceptance by excelling at whatever I did.  I even looked to dandelions to tell me if I was loved or not.

 

Here’s what I know: Rejection is going to come, but we don’t have to accept it.  Even the heroes of our faith and the nobody’s in the Bible experienced rejection.

 

 

Here’s what I’ve learned: I do not find my acceptance in what I do or how others feel about me.  I find my value and acceptance in Jesus, what He did for me, and what His word says about me!

 

 

Here’s what you need to know: If the enemy can keep us entangled in roots of rejection we will never walk in our full Kingdom Destiny.

 

Here’s what we need to do: If you feel the sting of rejection, don’t allow the seeds to take root in your life.  Immediately give it to God, seek prayer and healing if needed, and if possible share with the person how their words or actions made you feel. When I have done this, I usually discover that they were not rejecting me.

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6)

 

There is more to be said about the topic of rejection that I have decided to do a part 2.  Plan to join me This Thursday for the #TuneInThursday Linkup as I share about Overcoming The Sting of Rejection Part 2

 

I also invite you to watch this weeks video blog below. I recorded it a month ago, when I was feeling rejection trying to take root again in my own life.

 

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If you answered YES to any of those questions, then I have exactly what you need.  I now have an online e-course designed to equip you in understanding that God still speaks today, and He longs to speak directly to you, through His word, and others.  He longs to encourage you, strengthen you and comfort you.  The training on this site, is fully based on Scripture, and taken from my training manual Releasing God’s heart through Hearing His Voice. 

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