Dealing with Rejection

These days I am reading about social rejection. The more I read, the more I realize broad the theme is. Dealing with rejection is a huge topic to discuss. However, I think learning this is important as everybody had (on some level) experiences of being rejected as well as rejecting others. 

Rejection can take form as a dislike from a social media post, a negative answer from an idea/an application/a proposal, being bullied, being ignored, up to a relation rejection from the close social circle (such as family and friends), and physical persecutions.

The effect of rejection can be physical, financial, or psychological (such as the feeling of unbelonging, the feeling of unwanted, loneliness, low self-esteem, depression, aggression, emotional pain, social anxiety, antisocial behavior). Parenthetically, social rejection increases the ability to discriminate between genuine and fake smiles [1].

Being perfect does not free someone from being rejected. Neither doing God's exact calling does not free someone from being socially rejected. Jesus himself has been rejected by many people during his journey on earth [2] until now. Not all hate feelings have a clear reason (Psalm 38:19, John 15:25).

The reason of God to allow rejection in someone's life might vary from person to person. He might want to teach something. He might be preparing a different way/solution. In some cases, it is difficult to understand the reason behind it.

How to deal with rejection depend on how the rejection affects someone. Sometimes rejection affects the trust given and the only solution is to prove otherwise (if possible). Sometimes the key to deal with rejection is forgiveness. Occasionally, remembering our reward in heaven and try to rejoice is the solution (Matthew 5:12). In some cases, the best is to pray for those persecuting us (Matthew 5:44). Sometimes we just need to remember that God loves us and has paid a great price for our salvation. Sometimes we need to come to God's presence when we feel emotional pain/tiredness. Sometimes the best way to deal with rejection is just to remember that the world hates Jesus first (John 15:18). Professional help might be needed for handling traumatic rejection or rejection oversensitivity. 

Do not give up. Depend on God. Let the Holy Spirit teach you how to deal with your situation. I pray that God will work mightily in your difficult and (maybe unspoken) painful situation.

[1] Bernstein, M.J., "Adaptive responses to social exclusion: Social rejection improves detection of real and fake smiles," Psychological Science, 2008.

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rejection_of_Jesus