One of my biggest fears is failure. All too often, I catch my fear of messing up holding my life hostage. In my mind, being rejected or turned down for something goes hand and hand with failure, so I avoid it at all costs.

Growing up, I really didn’t face too much rejection. I was the one who somehow juggled it all, the one who always had it all together. I got every part-time job I applied for, and I always made the team and made the grades. But I was also strategic and calculated, only putting my efforts into things I knew I could probably succeed in.

Then college happened. Immediately over my head in opportunities and organizations to put my time into, I applied for positions in places and things that sparked my interest. And although I didn’t get rejected from everything, I did get turned down. A lot. This semester especially, my world has been rocked by emails and phone calls that begin with, “ We regret to inform you…”

I was so angry and confused. I didn’t understand – these had been good uses of my time, good causes to invest in, and I thought I was qualified and a great fit for all of these things.

That was just it. I thought. I thought I knew what was best. I was planning out the way I thought my life should be and already picturing what my life would be like if I got x,y, and z and then when things didn’t go my way, I immediately took it to mean I had been rejected because I was not good enough. I took God completely out of the picture.

So if you’re reading this and you’re currently feeling the insecurity and inadequacy that comes with receiving a rejection, hear me on this.

Your rejection does not mean you have been rejected.

This has been the hardest thing for me to grasp. The reason you and I hate failure so much is that we instantly let it define us. But the reality is that it’s not about us.

I know I quote Ephesians 2:10 often, but here it is again (it's literally so good, I can't help it!):

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10, ESV)

Reread the middle of that verse again. “Which God prepared beforehand..." The Message’s translation says, “The good work he has gotten ready for us to do...”

This verse is very near and dear to my heart because it became my mantra my senior year of high school after a trusted youth leader and mentor introduced it to me. It highlights an important truth that I think we forget in the midst of our rejections: God knows how it's all going to end. Even more than that, He controls how it's all going to end.

God knew you weren’t going to get that job, or that position, or that opportunity because God has already prepared your works beforehand. How much more beautiful are our rejections when we stop seeing them as a mistake on our part, but instead as God saying, “I have something else in store for you.” Your rejection is not a failure, but a promise of something better, something God has uniquely purposed for you.

In my own life, I have already started to see the intricate purpose and sweet provision of God behind doors that have been slammed in my face. I have been given different opportunities and received yes’s in other areas that would not have been available to me, had I not received a rejection or two along the way.

More than that, I got to the point in my journey where I had gotten so many disappointments and rejections that I had no idea what to even expect anymore, which if you’ve seen my detailed planner, you would know is my worst nightmare.

But it has been this station in my life where I have learned what Proverbs 3:5 means by “lean not on your own understanding.” I have honestly become thankful for my rejection because it forced me to truly lay down my plans and my life to God. There is so much peace and comfort and joy to be found in this.

So my prayer for you is that you would stop seeing your rejections as failures, and instead as concrete evidence of Ephesians 2:10 in your life. God has already prepared your work for you, it’s just up to you to decide to live it out.