Have you ever felt rejected?

At some point, I think we all have. The question is, what do you do when you feel rejected? Do you ball up inside and bury the hurt? Or, do you get angry and hurt other’s feelings? Do you try to use your charm and tell someone what he or she wants to hear? Or will you become defensive and try to be “right” in your point of view by arguing?

The truth is, these are all surface level things. These reactions to rejection are only indicators of a deeper desire. When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, the fellowship and relationship with God was severed on an inner spiritual level. As a result, sin entered the world and separated us from God. However, there is a God shaped hole in our hearts that we desire to be filled.

As children we look to our parents to be God. As children, we don’t know that we’re looking for it, it is simply a deep desire to be loved, accepted, and be told that we’re good enough. However, if our parents didn’t point us to God, too often we go down the path of finding God in our parents. Our parents inevitably fail us because the truth is, they’re simply people trying to find the same fulfillment of desire in their souls as you and I are. We go from parents, to friends, to spouses, to children, to jobs, etc. and the list keeps going from one thing to the next.

Where do we find fulfillment? We find it in God. We find it in trusting in Jesus’ redemptive work through the cross and resurrection. When we decide that we don’t have to change people, that they’re hurt people doing and trying things to fulfill that desire, and that we are God’s child, that we belong to Him, and He loves us where we are, then life begins to change. We won’t feel rejected by people when they hurt us because God has already accepted us. When you’re looking to Christ to fulfill you, and not people, you don’t have to ball up and bury the hurt, become angry and hurt other people’s feelings, charm others by telling them what they want to hear, or become defensive by arguing to be “right.”

God accepts you just the way you are! He is the only one that you can find fulfillment in. Let go of your desire to control people and things in your life. Trust in God and who you are in Him. Be confident in Christ.