REJECTION IS GOD’S PROTECTION
(Saturday, September 2)
“However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” (1 Cor 2: 6-8)
St. Paul experienced rejection from the most prestigious and powerful “rulers of this age”; from both the religious and political authorities of his time, who ultimately had him executed. Did this rejection keep St. Paul from realizing his vocation? No. It ultimately liberated him to rely on and speak “not the wisdom of this age,” but “the wisdom of God” and the glory of God, on which St. Paul could better focus, I think, because “other” authorities, “of this age,” could not or would not foster his God-given vocation.
Our failures and rejections help our vocation and understanding of who we are, who we are not; Whom we need to serve, and whom – not, more than our “successes.” As I heard a wise person say, “Rejection is God’s protection.” Rejection and loss help us, however painfully, to surrender our desire to be received or validated or fostered by those who do not need us, for whatever reason, so we can open up to those who do need us, first and foremost – God. When we lose certain friendships or other relationships, through painful experiences like death, betrayal, or rejection, I like to think of it as us being “pruned” like a rose-bush, that we may grow and serve in new ways or directions. It also makes some of us less cocky, if you know what I mean 🙂.
Let us be open, my friends, to those and that which God does send us, and surrender to Him that and those He does not send us, for reasons only He knows and manages by His loving providence for all of us. Thank You, God, for all of it, and please guide us all to live and speak Your wisdom, to seek Your glory, and not that of this age.
