Embrace Your Inner SuperheroSample

Refined By Fire

Deeply seeded in each of us is an inherent fear of rejection. We wear it on us like a heavy cloak, constantly feeling its weight on our shoulders.

Rejection hurts. It is perhaps the leading cause of pain in our world. And as such, we tend to avoid it at all costs. We’ve learned how to play the games, how to hide, how to overcompensate in order to quiet the effects of rejection and keep the tide of sorrow at bay.

The collateral damage to this careful dance is the truth of who we are. Rejection is not nearly as tragic as the stifling of one’s true self. Rather than handle the potential risk of consequences, we find a way to skate through life via the safest route possible.

Life is hard. And unfair. And often tragic. This is the arena of existence. The way things are. We can do our best to minimize pain, rejection, and sorrow. But we must also be careful that we do not check out, refusing to be, to grow, to learn.

The Apostle Peter worded it perfectly. He says, “These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.” 

Rejection in this world is a refining fire. It challenges our convictions, our attitudes, and our perceptions. It puts us to the test, so to speak. And it digs at the heart of who we truly are. There is perhaps no greater barometer for identity than that part of you that you would risk being rejected for. When we have a true perspective, we know by faith a number of vital truths. Among them: God will never reject us and Jesus will praise and reward us greatly when we endure rejection because of our relationship with Him. 

Being your true self will result in rejection. Not everybody is going to love the choices you make. The challenge is for us to weed through the rejection, shedding the ugly parts of us it exposes and strengthening the parts of us that are the most central, the most true. The parts that reflect the new creation Jesus has made us.