Rejection Redeemed

What was I to say when told I was no longer wanted? My brain tried to grasp what my ears had heard, and my lungs did the best they could to keep breathing. As the days continued, my soul looked for a time when my heart would stop crying over no longer belonging. My voice had been shut out; my thoughts and opinions, my very person had been relegated to the shelf. How was I to survive? Would life ever right itself, feel OK, allow for joy instead of tears?

The days stretched before me like a thick, dark fog. I hoped something would happen to change the present and make it like the past. Surely someone could right the ship that had completely capsized! Were my years on this planet too many for there to be days left when the dreadful mist lifted?

We are told that grief comes in stages. Denial that the present will be permanent. Anger that someone made the hurt happen. Bargaining with God, believing that He doesn’t want things to be this way. After all, God is good, and He is just. He knows what has happened; surely, He’ll fix it. But time passes without reprieve from the internal pressure of pain, and depression settles in as the brain accepts that maybe, just maybe, this new reality is permanent.

What would the future hold? Dealing with my intense sense of loss, I still believed that the God of the universe was Sovereign. In essence, He was responsible for my pain because nothing could touch me that He did not allow, right? I had a choice. I could fall into His arms for comfort, or I could turn away from the One who allowed the pain…and go where?

When Jesus walked the earth, His teachings were hard for some of those who listened. The Apostle John records that some turned away, leaving the One who was sent to show mankind the heart of the Father. Jesus asked his closest twelve if they, too, wanted to go away. Peter answered for them all. “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

Genesis tells us that, in the beginning, earth was formless and void. God the Creator spoke, and all that we know was created. The perfect Eternal One looked at what He had made and said that it was very good. He took a waste and made something. Something good.

If the God of the universe, my heavenly Father, who is Sovereign, is a good Creator, was it possible that even my intense pain could be made into good? God told Israel through the prophet Joel that He would restore to them the years that the locust had eaten. “You shall have plenty to eat and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you.” Joel 2:26. Waste had come to Israel. But God redeemed those years. Could He, would He, do that for me?

When Christ walked the earth, He read from the prophet Isaiah the following words, “the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor…to comfort all who mourn…to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.” Did that hope apply to me? Could my heart sing again? Would the heaviness ever lift enough for light to once again shine inside?

Romans 8:28 is a hard verse to read. “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” When life is unpleasant or worse, this statement seems unacceptable. But for those who love God, this is a truth, an undeniable reality. God is working everything, “all things,” for our good, for my good, for your good. Everything. The easy things and the hard things.

Is that what redemption is all about? Making good from bad? Taking waste and making plenty? Taking something we would throw away and repurposing it for glory?

This may be one of the hardest truths for me, for us, to wrap our brains around. God redeems all things. He redeems rejection. He redeems loss. He redeems hurt of every form…physical, mental, emotional. He even redeems the spiritual hurt people have placed on themselves.

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23. Just like personal rejection cuts deeply and physical pain causes tears, if we humans recognize the great loss that is ours when we have no relationship to the One who made us, we weep for redemption.

“The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23. Death is separation. Physical death is separation of the soul from the body. Spiritual death is separation of the human spirit from the Eternal Holy Spirit. Death is not pretty. Thankfully, God has provided another way.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. Life. Abundant life. Everlasting life. Such a different picture than death. We know what that looks like physically. How does that look spiritually?

As a math-minded person, I always loved the idea of eternity. Infinity is a major player in the Calculus, and to me that was like eternity. Imagine my surprise when I finally heard what Jesus was saying to the Father in John 17:3. “And this is life eternal, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” He didn’t say, “and this is eternal life, that they may live forever.” Jesus said that eternal life has to do with a relationship with God the Father and with Jesus Himself!

Spiritual death is separation of my spirit from the Spirit of God. But life everlasting is just the opposite. A relationship is available for me with my Maker, the One who is the Giver of Life. Redemption. My sinful self, redeemed for the glory of God Himself! Life taking the place of death. Hope overcoming despair. Joy exploding where sadness and resignation had reigned.

By God’s grace, I have lived long enough to watch God redeem the rejection that flooded my heart with pain. With a limp at first, I walked with Him into a new meaning that He had for me. Emotionally worn out, it took time for full healing to come, but that is the way of things on this earth. Physical hurt takes time to heal. Emotional hurt takes time to heal. But the Father had held me close as I fell into His arms when the pain was raw. He showed me His gentleness as He guided me through many months of grief. He replaced the sense of aloneness with His presence and love. And when He was ready, He led me away from the place of hurt to watch Him work in ways I could never have imagined. He filled my heart with joy.

Seeing the redemption of loss or grief this side of heaven will not happen for everyone the same way it did for me this time. More hurt is likely to come my way before God takes me Home, and it may or may not be redeemed in the same way as past hurts. But one thing is certain. Our God has promised that, if we are willing to see the truth of our sin and separation from Him, the Giver of Life, and if we will accept His gift of “eternal life,” we will enjoy a relationship with Him, now and always. This, His Life for my death, is the ultimate redemption!

God’s loving arms will hold us when we hurt here, if we are willing. And He promises that He will use those hurts for our good as we let Him pull us closer to Him. He will redeem those hurts at a minimum by teaching us more of His loving character. And when we leave this life, if we have said, “Yes,” to the gift of eternal life, we will continue our lives with the Author of Life Himself walking us directly from here to there.

Do you have things in your life you want redeemed? Do you know your Creator? He is the One who is able to make something from nothing, give good for bad, and has made an offer that no one can beat…He has already redeemed your sinful heart at great cost to Him and is willing to draw you into a loving relationship with Him if you will accept this magnificent gift.

If you don’t know the One who made you, I hope you will take Him up on His offer of eternal-life-giving redemption. If you already have that redemption, may you be assured, now and always, that you can count on our loving God to redeem every hurt this world will give. Rejection, loss, pain, grief, death.  Jesus Christ is the great Redeemer, and He continues to do as He has done throughout history. He continues to give beauty for ashes. He continues to redeem.