Do You Feel Rejected or Selected?

Sharon JaynesHow Jesus Broke The Rules to Set You Free, Identity in Christ, Never Less Than 82 Comments

Have you ever dealt with rejection? I have. And it’s so hard. I remember one night…

I went to bed, pulled the covers over my head, and had a big ole pity party. Once again, I had been rejected…come in second place…told I wasn’t quite what “they” were looking for. The scarlet letter loomed large. It wasn’t an A like Hester Prynne’s in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s book I had to read in high school, but a big fat R that I chose to wear when life turned ugly.

There was a woman in the Bible who understood rejection too. You probably know her as “the woman with the issue of blood.” Mark 5:25-34 tells her story and lets us know that she had been suffering for 12 years. During that time, she had been rejected by her family and friends, and drained financially and physically.

I see so many of us in her eyes. What woman among us hasn’t felt the wretchedness of rejection and the humility of hopelessness? What woman among us hasn’t felt she was less than because of certain circumstances in her life? What woman hasn’t wondered; Would God even care about the likes of me? She felt all that and more.

This woman was defined by what was wrong with her: “the woman with the issue of blood.” Perhaps you’ve felt that way a time or two in your life. Defined by what’s wrong with you, at least in your own mind. We tend to compare what we know to be wrong about ourselves with what we don’t know to be wrong with others. Let me just give you a hug right now and remind you, we’ve all got something. Resist the tendency to define yourself by what you imagine to be wrong with you and embrace the truth of what God says is right with you.

In Biblical days, certain situations and conditions rendered a person ceremonially unclean. A woman was considered unclean during her monthly cycle. That means the person is untouchable. Let that sink in for a moment.

Sometimes we can feel the same. Abandoned by friends. Deserted by a spouse. Forgotten by family. Unseen by society. But she was not forgotten. She was not alone. This daughter of Abraham was close to God’s heart and foremost on His mind. So God the Father orchestrated His Son’s journey to pass her way.

The woman broke all the rules when she heard Jesus was coming. She pressed through the crowd and reached for the hem of His garment. Immediately, she was healed. She felt it. The power left Jesus. He knew it.

Mark wrote: “But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering” (Mark 5:32-34 NIV).

“Daughter, your faith has healed you.” Sometimes one single word in Scripture speaks volumes. Daughter was a term of endearment she would not easily forget. No matter what you’ve been through, or what you will go through in the future, hang on to this truth: You are God’s daughter whom He loves.

Mark 5:25-34 reminds us just how much God values and esteems His female image bearers. He singled out one lone woman from a crowd of curiosity seekers, healed her physically and spiritually, and then placed her center stage to tell about it during a time in history when women weren’t even allowed to testify in court or speak to men in public.

As with this particular woman and the others we meet in the New Testament, Jesus viewed women’s needs as portals through which deeper spiritual needs might be met. He ministered to their immediate needs and gave them an eternal perspective and great significance. Just as He does for me and you…His daughters…and ours.

When we feel rejected by the world, we can remember that we have been selected by God. You have been chosen…handpicked…never less than.

Can you say that with me today? Click on comment and say, “I have been chosen, handpicked, never less than.

Lord, I know that rejection is just part of life. When I feel second best, help me to remember that I am the apple of Your eye, and that’s all that really matters. My significance is found in You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

 

My book, How Jesus Broke the Rules to Set You Free has been revised and updated! The new title is NEVER LESS THAN: Living Esteemed, Empowered, and Equipped When the World Tells You Otherwise. If you’ve ever felt less than because of your past, your present circumstances, or your gender as a woman then this book is for you! This is a message that your daughters and granddaughters need to hear. Click here to learn more. Click here for a FREE download of 25 Ways Jesus Honored Women.

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Comments 82

  5. God richly bless you. im fwding to my so-called “binary” niece and another lesbian, all stemming from childhood issues they do not want to address. pls pray for their delivery in Jesus name, with thanksgiving, Amen.

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  7. One of the things I’m learning in therapy is the difference between pain and suffering. In simple a simplistic form: Pain is caused by what someone did, said or what happened to us. Suffering is the story we say to explain it. It means I’m not good enough. Having struggled with rejection my entire life – yes entire life. I’m now learning to cut the suffering chain. For Jesus to say, you are freed from your suffering speaks to the full deliverance from not just the issue but her mindset and understanding of it. Truly beautiful 🙏🏽

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    1. This was really helpful…the difference between pain and suffering. I would say that most of my suffering comes from my inner narrative about myself. Thank you for sharing.

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    2. Thank you I needed to hear that as well. Jesus did say go in peace…..that speaks to her (my) suffering as well of the inner voice negativity. I want my faith to heal me so I can go in peace and be HIS daughter and beleive it.

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    3. Knowing that you are chosen, handpicked and you are seated with Christ in the heavenlys will shorten your suffering. I have been rejected but knowing that the one that matters Jesus Christ has accepted me in the beloved i am at peace. I actually laugh at myself for having allowed rejection to hurt me, but it was not easy.

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  10. Good morning!God knows I need that reminder. The stain of rejection by a friend who sees me less than was heavy on me. She is the apple of God eyes, I am not because when I share God blessings to my family and I. She will question it or share how God blesses her and her family more

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    1. This is not a friend. A friend loves and does not demean or practice one upmanship. Use the truths in this devotional by Sharon to help you pray for this friend to be able to give her hurts and wounds to Jesus and receive His perfect healing. It is very true that hurt people hurt people. Don’t allow yourself to be wounded by the identity she is assigning you even if it means stepping away from the relationship. It is not who God says you are.

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  13. I have been chosen, handpicked, never less than. Just yesterday a dear friend and I were talking about this very subject of rejection.
    I love how God speaks to us in so many intimate ways. Thank you for being His vessel. Feeling loved and valued by God.

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  15. I have experienced a ton of rejection and loss over the past few years of my life. My husband of 39 years told me he wanted a divorce; I lost a job I had for 10 years and loved; 3 of my closest friends died; I moved 3 times in 4 years; my younger son turned to drugs, abandoned his wife and children and ended up living on the streets; and an aunt I was very close to cut me out of her life when I was asked by her medical team to talk to her about going into assisted living. Ugh. But God..I’ve been married to a wonderful man for just over a year, My son recently entered a Christian rehab program, I got a great job that doubled my income, and met beautiful new friends at a new church. Trust. Surrender. Rest. That is what Jesus wants us to do when we feel rejected. HE will never leave or forsake us. Amen?

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    1. Thank you Lorri for sharing how God worked in your life! I am in the middle of a very similar season. Not knowing if my marriage will survive my husbands porn addiction. 41 years. God will make sure I am ok! This or something better as they say.
      I am ordering Sharon’s book for myself for Valentine’s Day!

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    4. Thank you for sharing your testimony Lorri. It is always so heartwarming to see/hear when God turns situations around. For those of us who are still stuck in our messy middles wondering when, if ever, the tide will turn your testimony offers hope.

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  18. I have been chosen, handpicked, never less than.

    Thank you always for your encouraging words of Christ’s love. I appreciate you.

    Blessings..

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  19. I have been chosen, handpicked, never less than. In my heart I know this. Today, I don’t feel it😞. Feelings are fickle. I will choose to focus on the Truth in God’s Word.

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  24. Hi Sharon!
    I just read your uplifting message, and I thank you for reminding us that God selected us and is with us in love.

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  28. I so often feel less than by the way I’m treated by my husband. Feel like I can never say or do anything right…and he hardly ever admits when he is wrong. Somehow always feel like I’m in the wrong. Feeling very discouraged and hopeless. Went to counseling which only helped for a short while. Now back to where we were and living together as friends or companions. Hard for me to believe God cares that much for me when I feel everything is wrong with me. I know I need to spend more time reading His word to hear His truth.

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  32. I am a chosen, hand-picked, never less than DAUGHTER of the King. God, himself, chose me. I am blessed. Life is not always easy but I know the One who is in control!❤️

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  34. I was diagnosed with a rare form of ovarian cancer on 12/11/20. What started out as a simple hysterectomy and fixing of a bladder tear turned my world upside down. A few days after surgery I had to go back into hospital bc I had blood clots in legs and lungs.. another week in hospital. A couple of weeks after that, I got extreme back pain, had to be taken by ambulance again to hospital. Emergency surgery the next day. Was in hospital over a month that time. I could latterly not do anything. Had to learn to walk all over again, lost a lot of weight. Was finally send home with wound vac. All this to say that I FINALLY got to start chemo in May. What I thought was going to be a long drawn out process was only months. I was pronounced cancer free in Sept. I always held on to the truth that I was going to see a miracle happen in my life. If not in this life, then in the next one. I was so blessed to go on this journey with my Lord. To read today that Jesus said “daughter your faith has healed you,” hit me like a ton of bricks. How beautiful is that! He still lets us know that we are loved, that He still listens and wants us to know how much He loves us. Another miracle that happened is that I was so allergic to the chemo drug that I coded with the second infusion. I died! I actually died! But my Father in heaven gave us another miracle. As if I had not seen enough already, there it was…another one. Thank you Father, for loving me so much.

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  49. I have been chosen, handpicked, never less than. Thank you Lord for your unconditional, everlasting love for me.

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  51. Isaiah 61:3
    “…to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair”.

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  52. Isaiah 61:3
    “…to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair”.

    “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.”
    Psalm 139:13-14

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  53. This is so timely for me and very personal. Lately, I have been or am struggling with rejection that has put me in circumstances that are so challenging and leaving me with a lot of questions but finally it is a blessing to be reminded that I have been chosen, hand picked and never less than.

    No matter what, He still LOVES me!

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  56. I am chosen, hand-picked, never less than! Oh how I needed reminding of that precious truth!!! Thank you for all you do!

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  61. “I have been chosen, handpicked, never less than.“

    I have always felt like a reject growing up. But God Blessed me and never left my side during my childhood and adulthood. It didn’t help when I became a “Nebuchadnezzer” again Jesus never left my side…I became a born again Christian and I grew Spiritually wiser ever since I started following the Bible (God’s words) and now because of maturing Spiritually and mentally I don’t feel like a reject but feeling adjusted and accepted…sometimes the old feelings would come…but the Holy Spirit would remind me of who I am in Christ Jesus…I’m His daughter, a royal priesthood, heiress, and workmanship…Because of Him I can face tomorrow…

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  63. I just woke up from a dream in which I was rejected by friends. The pain is there every day. Then I awoke to this message! God is so, so good!

    I have been chosen, handpicked, never less than. ♥️

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  65. I have been chosen…handpicked…never less than! Praise God for the gift of His son Jesus. Jesus came into this
    world to seek and to save those that were lost. Thank God I am found and so are you! Just say Jesus, close your
    eyes and feel His loving arms around you, because they are. And all God’s people said “AMEN!”,

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    1. Post
      Author

      I’m so sorry Dawn. Just know that you are never rejected by God.
      Have you asked her what you could do to improve their relationship? I have a chapter in The Power of a Woman’s Words to her adult children. I wonder if that might help.

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  69. I have been chosen m, handpicked, and never less than…

    Like the women who bled for me years, I struggled with schizophrenia. I remembered when they first started have a woman’s Bible study at my church. I was in my mid twenties and very desperate for Jesus. I was ostracized and felt like a pariah. I also felt rejected. But like that woman who bled, I forced myself to go to join the Bible study. I wanted to be healed and accepted by Christ. That was the best decision I made because today I am accepted back in society. I found the right medicine and am now stable and can function really well. I also was able to graduate from college and now working as an Executive Secretary permanently. God has Blessed me immensely. Which I am forever grateful. God is good all the time.

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