Rejection. It’s right up there with betrayal. There aren’t too many other more painful vibes that you can feel from people, other than their rejection. I dealt with that pain recently – not rejected by one person, but multiple people. It stings. It causes me to think “Is it me? Am I a loser? Am I unloveable? Does anyone even care?”

I’ll admit, I lost some sleep over it all. But, it’s my own fault. I chose to believe lies that I’m not good enough. I dwelled in the putrid place of self loathing. I decided that it was me against them; against the world. And, isolation is right where my enemy wants me. He panders to my preconceived notions that I am not wanted, and keeps me alone.

But, there was someone who was drawing me close in the wee hours of the morning, when I was stewing that nobody cared. He reminded me that He cares deeply, and that truly is enough. He reminded me that He was rejected too. He pointed me to others who have been rejected because of Him. He led me to a truth that I needed to hear in order to dilute the pain:

“As you come to Him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house...” – 1 Peter 2:4, 5a

What was God revealing, as the sun began to rise and the hope of the morning entered my windows? He was reminding me to run to Him. He wants me to come to Him for validation and acceptance – not others. He was reassuring me of His great love and belief in me. He was helping me remember who loves me the most in my life. He was replacing the lies with His truth.

I sifted through commentary on what “living stones” were (because Danielle isn’t so smart at 5 am), and this is what it told me:

Christ is the rock that the church is built on, and He is the living foundation, strength and duration on which every believer is laid. And yet, He was rejected by Jewish builders, high priests, scribes, Pharisees and the body and bulk of that nation, who refused Him and left Him out of the building. They disallowed and disesteemed Him, although He was the Son of God, the name above every other name.

Suddenly, I felt my hurts healing.

The ruler of the world was rejected. He knows my pain. But, He doesn’t just know it, He absorbed it.

Friends, we must build all of our hopes and happiness on Him. God is the only one sturdy enough to build our life’s assurance and affirmation on. We can’t leave that to any other individual. That weight is too big for human hands to bear.

So, I step out of the darkness, and from under the weight of rejection, into His light and acceptance of me. I choose to be “built up as a spiritual house”, and not torn down into the heap of rejection rubble. I will remember I am chosen, and I am His.

You can do it too. When you heave your hopes on God, and allow Him to speak words of life in your ear, you will feel weightless. Your burdens will lift, as you lean into the Cornerstone and let Him do the heavy lifting.

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” – 1 Peter 2:9