Rejected but Restored by Lisa Burkhardt Worley

For the LORD will not reject his people; he will never forsake his inheritance (Psalm 94:14, NIV).

The most effective witnesses are the ones who have been rejected in their past.

Moses was rejected by his own people after he murdered an Egyptian for his poor treatment of a fellow Israelite. The day after the crime he tried to stop a fight between two Israelites saying, “Men, you are brethren; why do you wrong one another?” They responded, “Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?” (Acts 7:26-28, NKJV) It was after that encounter Moses ran to Midian where he spent the next forty years in hiding until God called him to lead the his people out of captivity. It was a big job for a rejected man.

We have been, or will be rejected at some point in our lives. The question is “How will we use that rejection for God’s glory?” Or will we wallow in rejection and never fulfill the purpose for our lives—a God-designed purpose.

As a child, I was overweight with thick-lensed glasses. Because we did not have a lot of money, I wore two to three outfits that my grandmother bought for me each year. Living in a wealthy school district, I lacked confidence and did not have what the other kids had so I was rejected by many. Yet the Lord restored my life, and over the past thirty years it has been a joy to proclaim his truths through both church and ministry work. My history gives me a platform to demonstrate how God redeems lives and how he has instilled his confidence in me so I can be a mouthpiece for him.

Remember, Jesus was rejected. Isaiah 53:3 prophesied that “He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.” However, we know that Jesus’ rejection did not prevent him from fulfilling his calling. His three years of ministry on Earth changed the world.

What about you? Are you still ruminating about the rejection you’ve experienced? If so, ask the Lord to turn your thinking around and show you how you can have victory over the past. Once that happens, tell others about how you were once rejected but now, by the grace of God, you are restored.