Finding Your Significance When You Feel Rejected

Have you ever noticed our world is rigged to make us feel rejected? It’s like it’s hard wired into the system.

Remember elementary school when teams were chosen to play soccer? Were you ever the last one still waiting to be picked and the team captain is looking around hoping to see somebody, anybody hiding in the bushes?

Photo Credit: Orin Zebest

Or how about high school and desperately wanting to make the varsity basketball team even if you were only five-six? Or hoping to be selected cheerleader even if you had the coordination of a new born giraffe?

And adulthood doesn’t get any better does it?

Dating is like toxic. I mean who thought up?

Add to that competing to get the best job. Live in the nicest house. Have the largest portfolio.

No wonder we feel exhausted and defeated half the time.

We trudge around looking at our friends and think, “Man, they’ve got it so together. “
And they’re looking at us thinking, “Man they’ve got it so together.”

I think a lot of the time most of us feel like less than we ever hoped for. And sometimes that’s the high point for the day.

That’s what I love about Jesus. He taught, “I tell you the truth, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John the Baptist. Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he is!”*

I think that’s so cool. And when I’m feeling like so much week old pond scum I try to remember it.

We enter into God’s kingdom simply because we ask and we believe we’re accepted.

Then our perspective of ourselves begins to change.

We realize we’re God’s child. He loves us and calls us son or daughter. Frankly, that should be enough but it’s not all.

We realize we’re created by God uniquely. No one else has ever been like us before or ever will again. Of course occasionally that may not be comforting when someone says, “You are sooo strange.” Ok, well maybe you haven’t heard that.

And we know God created us with a unique set of gifts for a unique mission here on earth. No one else has the exact mission we have or ever will again.

That to me is so cool. Of course I’m easily impressed. Yet, we get to spend our lives discovering those gifts and that mission. Talk about an adventure.

Then we begin to see ourselves as God sees us. As forgiven, loved, created perfectly and infinitely important. In fact you are more important for God’s role for you than anyone else he’s ever created.

Yes, we’ll still have those doubts sometimes. Particularly when someone else gets picked over us for whatever it is we really wanted.

But when they do, remember who you really are and that you’re specially made.

And that will set you free to become the best you, you can be.

You are infinitely more important than you ever will give yourself credit for.

How have you found this to be true?

Please share it on Facebook, Twitter or email me.

*Matthew 11: 11 (NLT)