I distinctly remember sitting in the student office when applying for an on-campus job. The program director looked me in the eyes and asked, “Can you handle rejection?”

I knew what she meant—not that she was rejecting me from the job but that, in working with people in a program such as this, I was likely to face rejection.

It’s been months, but I’m still thinking about her question. Like it or not, rejection hits all of us at some point or another—sometimes in seemingly endless waves.

Can I handle rejection? On my own, not very well. But I’m not on my own.

Here are some thoughts about how God equips us to survive and even triumph in rejection.

It’s Not About You

I’ve been there. The deep, stinging hurt. The confusion. The questions.

What did I do wrong?

Why don’t they like me?

What’s the matter with me?

Let me say it straight: this rejection not about you.

I know it feels like it’s about you. But you have to realize that there is a bigger picture.

Case in Point: Samuel

The prophet Samuel felt like an entire nation had rejected him after he faithfully served them. God did not originally intend for the nation of Israel to have a king; God Himself was their King! And Samuel was the prophet who helped Israel follow God.

Now, the people were asking for a king.

Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.”

1 Sam. 8:4-5

Failure. Confrontation. Rejection.

But what was really going on?

And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.”

1 Sam. 8:7

Israel had not rejected Samuel. Israel had rejected God. And because Samuel was walking with God, he experienced that same rejection alongside the true King of Israel.

It’s not about you. If you serve the Living God, there is a greater influence at work than your own life. Let God open your eyes to the true battle (Eph. 6:12), and pray for those are rejecting not you but God.

Following His Footsteps

Somewhere along the line, we forgot that the Christian life isn’t a free pass to an easy life. We forgot that taking up our cross daily means choosing the harder road.

Or maybe we were never told.

But Jesus made it clear:

Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

Jn. 15:20

In fact, Jesus is introduced to us in the context of rejection:

He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

Jn. 1:10-11

Can you imagine that? Jesus created the world, entered the world out of love, and then no one even recognized Him. Worse yet, they did not receive Him.

His own people rejected Him—from the very beginning.

A Final Word

We are called to follow His footsteps. If anyone walked the road of rejection, Jesus did. There will be heartache. There will be misunderstanding.

But there is also victory.

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Jn. 16:33

Take heart, brothers and sisters! Follow Your King to eternal victory, looking only to Him for your our applause.

After all, there is One who will never reject us—the One who has said, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” (Heb. 13:5b)