by David Dewitt

Created on: December 06, 2008

Rejection is a part of life and at some point we are all going to feel the cold sting of rejection. Rejection is something that we have all dealt with. Whether it's on a personal level or a professional level, the sting is still there. Rejection seems to be one of the common denominators of life because we have all felt its sting and been effected by the cruelty of its grip.

Rejection has been defined as the refusing to accept, consider, submit to, take for some purpose, or use, to refuse to hear, receive, or admit. Rejection is the experience of not being accepted, not being heard and being taken for granted.

If you know the harsh reality of rejection than you can relate to a number of Biblical characters. There were many that felt the sting of rejection throughout the pages of the Bible. One of the worst examples of rejection in the Bible is found in the life of the Old Testament character, Joseph. Joseph was rejected by his own family. The worst behavior came from his own brothers. Here are just some of the things that Joseph's brothers did to him.

Joseph's brothers mocked him and the vision that God had given him. Joseph's brothers plotted how they could attack him and they planned to kill him. The brothers attacked Joseph and held him down while they beat him. They stripped Joseph of the favored possession, his robe. The robe had been given as a sign that he was favored by his father.
Then the brothers threw Joseph into a dry cistern to take some time to decide what they were going to do with him. As they are thinking about the situation, a caravan of slave traders goes by and they decide to sell him as a slave. The price that the brothers receive is only about ten dollars each. Joseph cried out to his brothers for help and they ignored him completely. Finally, the brothers lied to their father and created evidence that made it appear that Joseph was dead.

How should we handle ourselves when we experience rejection? What should we do to cope with the sting and the pain? We learn some important lessons from Joseph.

Be open
We have to be willing to be open to the work of God in our lives. Joseph was given the visions of God in dreams. This is an incredible ability. The abilities that you have may not be visions from God but they are equally important. If you allow your life to be open to God, He will decide where, when and how to use you.

Be humble
One of the downfalls of Joseph was the simple truth that he didn't keep his mouth shut. Joseph was given a great gift from God but the manner in which he displayed it was totally inappropriate. Pride comes before a fall and Joseph's pride caused him to be humbled in tragic ways

Be patient
Many times we look at the short term effects of the trials we go through and doubt God is using them in a positive way. Before things would improve for Joseph, they would sadly get worse. God is not finished working in us and through us. We cannot judge the outcome by the unfinished product. Allow God to finish what he has started in you. We lose out on many of the blessings of God when we judge Him by His unfinished work.

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