Living Through Rejection

No one likes to entertain the thought that someone they love doesn’t want them. When suspicions of rejection turns into reality, the pain goes deep. Wounds of dejection shatter our hopes, leaving scars that refuse to give our minds rest from the memory of having been pushed away. Such grief and hurt drops over us like an iron curtain; we want to crawl out from under it, but it’s too heavy, and we begin to suffocate beneath the weight of having been discarded.

Have you ever felt this pain? You are not alone. Probably everyone has a story to tell of having loved and lost. David, in the Old Testament, certainly knew the vast pain of rejection. He describes his feelings so poignantly in Psalm 27. David is alone here, away from family and friends, literally running for his life. He has been publicly rejected. Let’s read his words:

“The one thing I ask of the Lord — the thing I seek most — is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord’s perfections and meditating in His temple. He will conceal me there when troubles come; He will hide me in His sanctuary. He will place me out of reach on a high rock. Listen to my pleading, O Lord. Be merciful and answer me! My heart has heard you say, ‘Come and talk with me.’ My heart responds, ‘Lord, I am coming.’ Do not hide yourself from me. Do not reject your servant in anger. You have always been my helper. Don’t leave me now; don’t abandon me. O God of my salvation! Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will hold me close.”

Here we see a glimpse into David’s fears. He is so hurt by human rejection around him, that he wonders if God, too, will turn him away. He pleads for this not to be so. Then, as he pleads, we see his heart being reminded that our Heavenly Father always has ears open to our cries. David is reminded that God Himself says, “Come and talk with me.” David’s heart responds with, “Lord, I am coming!”

How beautiful to be reminded, that in the midst of our deepest pain, God is calling out to you and me. He pleads for us to pour out our hearts. While friends can understand to a point, only God can understand in perfection because only He sees the pain in its fulness; pain that has grabbed hold and will not let go. David answers the call of God — “Lord, I am coming!”

May we, too, in the midst of the most piercing pain, when tears choke us, and hearts feel heavy beneath the load of rejection or any other seething pain — may we, too, remember to call out — “Lord, I am coming!” Only in the sweetness of God’s own love and understanding can we be fully released back into perfect peace and joy once again.

God said to His people in Isaiah 41:9-10, “I have chosen you and will not throw you away. Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.”