Hi Blogging Family. This is a long post. It is actually an article I have written about not giving up, and I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it yet. It is more of an article than a blog, but I wanted to share it with you first!
When you finish reading it, I’d love to know what stirred your heart. Who do you think needs to hear this message? Got any ideas? I’d love to hear them. So here we go…
What do you do when your ship pulls up anchor and sails off without you? How do you respond when the “powers that be” toss your hopes and dreams overboard and tell you to “go home?” Where do you turn when someone whose opinion matters, denies you passage on the boat you were meant to board? The answers to those questions can change everything. You need to decide right now – before it happens.
For over a year, my husband and I had planned a trip to Italy, Greece, and Turkey with six of our closest friends. We had plotted our course, prepared our travel, and saved our pennies. When the day finally arrived, we flew to Rome to spend three days, before setting sail to Greece. On the night before boarding the ship, I celebrated by eating some local fish that was a little too fishy. In the wee hours of the morning my body commenced rejecting the contents of my digestive system in every unpleasant way possible. I’d experienced this before. I knew what it was. Food poisoning.
Being a good trouper, I crawled into the taxi with our band of explorers, closed my eyes, and proceeded to the ship terminal for the next leg of our journey. We arrived at the dock and joined the throng of other vacationers being herded through the roped check-in lanes. One of the attendants handed me a short form to complete for admittance. And there it was. The question.
“Have you experienced vomiting in the past 48 hours?”
I looked at the paper.
I looked at my carefree expectant friends.
I looked at the beckoning ship.
I looked at my wary husband – questioning without a word.
I took a deep breath.
I told the truth. I checked “yes.”
I handed my boarding papers to the customer service representative, who took one look at the checked “yes” box, and spoke through a forced smile. “Can you please step aside?” she asked. “I’ll be back in a moment.”
A few minutes later, the ship nurse appeared, took my temperature, and asked me to please move to another area of the terminal. I explained to her about the fishy fish, the food poisoning and the dehydration that caused my temperature to be elevated one degree. I explained that I had experienced food-poisoning before and knew without a shadow of a doubt that was what I had. She just nodded, took a few notes, and then disappeared into the ship’s belly.
After twenty minutes or so, she returned with an official document. “I’m sorry, ma’am” she began, “you cannot board this ship. You have been denied passage. You are not fit to sail. We cannot take the risk that you will infect the other passengers. You need to go home.”
Let that sink in for just a moment. You are not “fit to sail.” You have been “denied passage.” You need to “go home.”
Steve and I were crushed as our broken-hearted friends walked across the gangplank, disappeared onto the ship, and sailed away without us.
Have you ever been in a similar situation? Maybe not being denied passage on the trip of a lifetime, but perhaps you’ve been rejected by a prospecitve employer, university, or a publisher. Perhaps you’ve felt the gut-retching disappointment of disqualification.
Perhaps you have polished your proposal, meticulously crafted your words, and arduously created your platform. You’ve prepared, planned and prayed. You can almost reach out and touch your ship, almost taste the salty air of success, almost feel the gentle sway of passage. But then, there’s a chance something could go wrong. Someone whose opinion matters might show up and declare that you are not “fit to sail.” They could possiblely deny you passage on the ship you know was meant for you, and tell you to “go home.” What would you do?
Sit right there in the terminal with me for a moment longer, and let me tell you what we chose to do with the wall of rejection blocking our hopes and dreams.
Nicoletta was one of the local Italian gals the cruise line had hired to help on check-in day. She sat with me, tried to console me as best she could. Then she came up with a crazy idea.
“I know this would be a lot of trouble,” she began. “I know this would be risky and costly. But what you could do is take the one-and-a-hour cab ride back to Rome, check in a hotel by the airport, and book a flight from Rome to Reggio Calabria for tomorrow morning. Once in Reggio, take a bus from the airport to the seaport terminal and then a ferry from the seaport terminal to the island of Messina where the ship will be docked.
When you get to Messina, find a local doctor who will examine you. If the doctor declares you are healthy, and writes you a certificate saying you are “fit to sail,” you can take that back to the ship’s doctor. Perhaps then he will allow you to board. But you have to do all that before 4:00 pm tomorrow when the ship will leave Messina and set sail for Greece.”
That was the craziest thing we’d ever heard! Who would do such a thing? We would.
We took a cab back to Rome, a flight to Reggio Calabria, a bus to the Reggio seaport, and a ferry to the Island of Messina. Once there, we met up with Nicoletta’s friend, Lucia, who took us to her personal doctor who spoke no English. The doctor poked, prodded, and prepared a report that declared me healthy and “fit to sail.”
Steve and I scurried back to the cruise ship waving the official “fit to sail” document like the victory flag it was. The attendant gave to it to the ship doctor, who then allowed us to board just before the ship’s horn announced it was leaving the dock.
Did that story make you tired? It makes me tired just thinking about it. But here’s what you need to know. At some point in your life, someone whose opinion matters might tell you that you are not “fit to sail.” Someone may deny you passage on the ship that you know was meant for you. They may tell you:
Your idea is not practical enough.
Your credentials are not impressive enough.
Your talent is not polished enough.
Your writing is not creative enough.
You might even stand on the dock of your precisely prepared hopes and dreams and watch as your friends get on the ship without you.
And if that happens, you will have a choice. You can give up and go home. Or you can do what you need to do to get on board. You can take a cab, take a plane, take a bus, take a ferry, and do whatever you need to do to get on the ship God has sitting in the dock for you.
Pressing on might seem a bit crazy. Persevering may bring unplanned expenses. Pushing forward could try your stamina beyond what you thought possible to endure. But the alternative is to go home and cozy up with the remote while others sail away without you.
I don’t know what you ship is today. Perhaps it is getting published. Perhaps it is starting a business. Perhaps it is starting a ministry. Perhaps it is hosting a blog. But chances are somewhere along the way, someone whose opinion matters, will tell you to “go home” – that you’re “not fit to sail.” And you’ll have to decide.
I often hear people say, “I’m waiting for my ship to come in.” I haven’t known anyone whose “ship has come in.” But I have known a lot of people who have worked very hard to get on the ship that God has prepared for them. And I’ve know a lot of people who’ve watched their ship sail away because they gave up too soon, because the work was too hard, or because they settled for being a victim of someone’s opinion rather than a victor who pressed on.
Pressing on in the shadow of rejection is hard. Going home is easier. But it is those who persist in the shadow of disappointment that experience the sweetness of success.
Is there something in your life that you have given up on? Is God nudging you to try again? If you feel like this post was for you, simply leave a comment that says, “This one was for me!”
Comments 293
This one was for me!
I plan to share this with my family. In the past year each of has been confronted with rejection and thoughts of giving up. Praying that with God’s help and strength we can continue to move forward each day and find the success we are all so desperately seeking.
This one is for me, and a lot of other people I know too.
Thank you for the encouragement.
This one is for me.
I have been trying to bring home two children I have adopted in Uganda for the last two years. Pouring heart, soul and money into a downspiraling event. The Lord in his wisdom now has us opening a childrens home and feeding center in the small town of kamuli,uganda. But I said to God,”I thought we were just supposed to bring these two kids home” he replied “not thy will but my will be done. So I will take a taxi ,catch the plane, hop the bus and go where he leads me.
When your dream of growing old with the one you love disappears in the fog, and your family is scattered to the far reaches of the globe, and you’re left wondering how it all happened the way it did, it’s kind of difficult to pick up and carry on with your hands and heart open to all that God has for you … It’s almost as though even He becomes suspect in the process … “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope & a future …” Really, Lord?? Even with all the brokenness I see as a result …?? Plans, prosperity, hope, … & dare I even imagine a future??
Thank you for sharing your story, Sharon, and the analogy that I can apply to my own situation. Many blessings on you
Definitely extremely difficult to pick up and go on when the one you love dumps you at the alter, when all your friends have set sail on the ship of matrimony or motherhood and you’re left looking in from the outside….what ship or ferry or bus am i supposed to get on without compromising my failth? when so-called friends disconnect because they now don’t know what to say to you anymore, because there is little in common now and “your clock is almost past ticking”.
Where do you run to when you really don’t understand at all what God is doing or why and how it can possibly fit into his grand plan…? Believe me, I’ve heard all the platitudes and then some. They are no help at all in that place where the rubber really hits the road.
What it’s really about is learning to trust God again, even when you can’t see the road ahead and it looks dark and scary and you’d really rather go home.
I understand your hurt. I remember thinking some of the same thoughts during our years of infertility, and watching my friends have children. And then feeling them again when we lost a child. But I can promise you that God has a plan for you. Sometimes we need to let go of the broken pieces of our shattered dreams so that He can form the beautiful mosaic from the pieces. I love this poem
Just as a child brings his broken toys with tears for me to mend.
I took my broken dreams to God because He was my friend.
But then instead of leaving Him in peace to work alone.
I hung around and tried to help with ways that were my own.
At last I snatched them back and cried, “How could you be so slow?”
“What could I do, my child,” He said. “You never would let you.”
Learning to let go of my shattered dreams was the beginning of discovering the new dreams God had for me.
I hear so much pain in your writing and for that I am truly sorry. Pain is something I’m familiar with. My 1st marriage ended after 2 months when he walked out & went off with an old girlfriend. His friends went with him.
Where do you go? You go to the cross, you keep your eyes on the savior. Pursue him, love him, come to know him better while sitting wrapped up in his arms. Allow him to love you, nurture you & prepare you for whatever it is that is next in your life. Just focus on that, your relationship with, him while giving yourself time to heal.
I wish my X had left me at the alter, instead of divorced at 19.
God bless you in all you do!
d
This one was for me
This one was for me. I do not think there is a day when I do not have rejection of some kind. I just need to know if the rejection was a blessing from the Lord, or was it that the Lord is teaching me something new in the rejection experience.
December 3, 2013 I had no choice but to have herniated discs removed and have rods and screws put in. I was at the end of a semester of college, I had A’s and B’s in my courses, and I was forced to miss the final exams and have the surgery. Then on December 20, 2013, I was advised in my doctors office to go to the ER concerned I have a staff infection after looking at my back that had liquid seeping out of my back from wear the stitches are from the surgery. I went to the ER, I was released after my surgeon stated he wanted me admitted for surgery. I had my temperature rise to 101 over the weekend and I saw my surgeon on Monday. Within 1/2 hour in his office, he and his staff were making arrangements for my surgery at the hospital and admitting me. I had a near sepsus staff infection. This was my second spine surgery, and they needed to wash out the spine and gather chipped bone that was left behind. I now knew that I had missed final exams, and my incompletes may turn into F’s. I also was not allowed back on campus until clearance, and I was not allowed to drive until the infection is cleared. I also had a temporary IV in my arm at home with antibiotic solutions being infused. I was given rejection to return to campus, rejection to be independent, rejection by my brother and sister-in-law as they never visited me on Christmas while I was in the hospital, I never received any get-well cards from them, and all I heard when I returned home was when are we going to exchange gifts for Christmas. I thought, rejection, all I am good for is what I am able to give my brother, my sister-in-law and my niece for Christmas, but I am not worth their cards or time while I am in the hospital extremely ill. The Lord used this time to heal past hurts and time for a closer relationship with the Lord. He started very softly ministering to me about my anger, my words, and relationships that were not providing spiritual nourishment and growth in my relationship with Him. But, family rejection hurt. I then realized that they have hurts and issues, and that it was important for them to see Jesus in me through my actions.
This one was for me.
What happened wit my husband and I is that my husband went to the wrong port. That was ver disappointing. My husband would not listen to me and he did not call his sister to find out the name of the port the ship was sailing from. He thought he had it all under control. He wanted to surprise his sister but he made a terrible mistake by not getting the information. We had to drive back “Home”. I never uttered one word how disappointing it was. I unpacked in silence and pretended that it never happened.
This one is definitely for me, in more ways than one! God is specifically speaking to me this morning thru this. Thank you.
This one was for me Sharon! I just took a walk (yes, at 4am) so I could have a loud conversation with God that wouldn’t wake my sister. I’d just let Him know how I’ve never been as tenacious as I have been this year and in the same vein, I’ve never gotten as many rejections as I have in all my 20-something years.You’re right about it being hard, especially when you think you’re a trooper by dealing with ‘food poisoning’, just to be told you can’t ‘set sail’. Thanks for reminding me to take my boat, ferry, flight and car if it will get me on the ship rather than standing to stare at the ship, wondering why I have to be the one to take an alternate route. God bless you!
This was indeed for me today. I have been awake most of the night trying to figure out how to fund my business idea. Not just to create a business, but to reach out to the local community with God’s love and caring. And, I was just thinking tonight that maybe I am crazy. Maybe this is just my idea and not something from God that he has planted there for me to do. I am wrong about that. I see it now. I need to keep praying, keep planning and not let anything or anyone stand in my way to getting onto that ship! Thanks Sharon.
This one was for me! Thank you.
This one was for me! Pressing on and not giving up. I prayed for a sign last night. Thank you, Lord!
Thank you. This will apply to everyone… At some point in our lives we will come face to face with rejections, disappointments, feelings of being left out or let down. You are so right though, we must decide right now before that time what we will do when that time comes. I choose to persevere!
Sharon, thanks for this write up. This is meant for me.
I enjoyed this post tremendously! We all face different types of rejection in this life. We have to press on, even though we may be broken. God uses our brokenness to bless the broken and to bless us.
This one was surely for me. Thank you very much Sharon.
This one is for me!! I am fighting to save my marriage He is proving very resistant to change I have taken the bus the ferry and a flight and I still am fighting to board my ship of a healthy godly relationship I am praying that God deems this relationship worthy to set sail
This one was for me.
Thanks, Sharon – this one was definitely forme!
This one was for me…it gave me that little nudge to keep going on no matter what others say.
This one for me!
I had such a ship. This one’s for me.
This one was for me today. Thanks I needed this.
this was definitely for me, 2013 has started out to be the most challenging year of rejection in every form of the word, told myself when it’s my birthday July 15 I will be 36, will forget what 35 has brought to me, and said to myself that the next 6 month of this year it will be better, but it rather seems that its getting more than worse, but through it all I still believe that things will get better!
thank you Sharon,
Love
Julanda
Cape Town, South Africa
This one is for me. God has wanted me to make a quilt about the fruits of the spirit, and get up and share with others what this quilt means to me and to show God’s love for them. But I keep putting off making the quilt, and I am afraid of getting up in front of people. I have trouble putting into words what is on my heart that God wants me to share. I am doing the on line bible study Say Yes to God. I have to do this he is making it loud and clear that is what he wants me to do. I am learning I need to put all my fears away and just trust him, he will give me the words to speak. I want to thank you for your words of encouragement .
Thanks,
Kim Creamer
This one was for me….
God Bless you and all the readers.
I have been battling with retaining my small business, this is my second year this August approaching, and the first year was a struggle, and just las t week was ready to call it quit. But God has other plans, thanks for this confirmation, another endless confirmation! Great read!
Dana….
I too, am facing similar struggles in my small business. I can’t seem to hear God for my fear is paralyzing me. I don’t think He wants me to close, but I so don’t hear Him telling me the next move to make. Would love to talk with you sometime…. maybe we could offer some suggestions for improving eac other’s business….
Hope to hear from you!
Susan
This one was for me!
This one was DEFINITELY for me!!!
Very meaningful to me. Thanks, Sharon!
Tammy Joyce
This one is really for me! My husband started a new concept for his business and he gave up his current location to a bigger chain. Now he is faced with trying to find the right place somewhere else. GOD opened this opportunity for him and he needs the strength to keep going.
This was for me!!!
What a word of encouragement! Sharon thank u for sharing. I struggled with rejection for well my whole life, but our amazing GOD set me free…it will still vere its ugly head from time to time, but God is faithful, and through His amazing Spirit I am able to keep pressing toward my ship. 🙂
This one was for me. I’ve worked in special education (15 yrs) as para educator. I have degree in child development which is not necessary for this job nor does it help me get a good paying job necessarily. I’m looking at going back at end of month. End of last year my position was eliminated and was told I could just take ANY open position…no concerns about number of yrs there or experience or knowledge. I also have to drive 24 more miles a day just to keep job.I feel like I had no value and my employers saw me as just another body to fill the spot. I’m struggling with the fact that I’ve given my employers saw15 yrs of my all and then have no say in the where or why’s of my job. Is God wanting me to do something different or except and do best in this new venture with new people to touch or try new things. U feel employers telling to go home if don’t like changes. Now what to do…stay on this ship because He has plans there or toss it all overboard for new venture. The Lord has planned. Please pray for insight for me.
Tammy Jo, there is no more important ministry in education than our special needs educators, ESPECIALLY our hands-on paras! I am a special needs parent, on the way home from sending our one and only son with autism off to college out of state (www.beaconcollege.edu). Professionals like YOU made a standard HS diploma possible for him. Your employers may see you as just another body, but I can assure you, your students and their parents do NOT. We VALUE you and your service and your love for our kids. THANK YOU, from the bottom of my heart!
Amen, Peggy! Tammy Jo, you ROCK, you are anointed by God and WE NEED YOU. Lord, give Tammy Jo discernment and quiet her mind so that she will be certain of what you want her to do. Thank You, God, in Jesus name. Amen.
This one is for me!!!!!! Thank you so much!!!
This was for me! Thank you for sharing this!!
A lot of people, maybe me too I don’t know, would take those circumstances as God telling you the trip was not His will for you, and that was His way (unpleasant as it was) of keeping you off the boat for His own reasons. What do you think of that point of view? Should we always ‘press on no matter the circumstances’? Well, that’s a question that can’t be answered, I realized as I wrote it 🙂 But I mean the question in the general sense. When do we say Okay God, this isn’t for me, thank You for saving me from it? I mean, maybe the ship was going to sink, or be quarantined like so many cruise ships have been lately or something other bizarre problem that could only happen in the middle of the vast ocean! I struggle with questions like this – when to press on and when to accept something as God’s will.
I think that is a very good question. And I think that is what most Christians would have said. But when you look back through the Bible, that is not what we see most of the time. I think Christians give up far too easily. When things don’t go well, they are too quick to say that it is not God’s will and quit.
When God called Noah to build the ark, things did not go well. I wonder if I would have quit.
When God called David, he had to run for his life for several years.
When God called Moses, those stubborn Israelites gave him a fit.
When God called Moses, the Pharoah caused all grades of trouble and said, “You’re not going anywhere.”
When God called each one of the disciples, they were thrown into prison, beaten, and killed.
OK, I feel a sermon coming on. But it is a great question! Don’t feel bad about askiing it.
The short answer is we have to make sure that we know God is calling us, and then not give up when we meet opposition.
If God had not wanted me on that ship, I believe that the doctor would have still said “no.”
Thank you (all) for you for the beautiful way that you share ! I am a Jewish believer in Jesus, and struggle so very hard with inadequacy, insecurity and fear of failure. It seems so easy to pray and believe in God’s healing and restoration for people, however, the greatest daily challenge is trusting Him with me. I truly desire to see everyone as He does, but when it comes to me and a greater level of intimacy, I feel like the runaway bride ! Oy ! Bless You !
“This one was for me!”
Thank you, and bless you. This was the story of my life over the past 18 months.
This one was for me!
Actually Sharon as I read this I thought of so many times in my life this blog was for me. I’ll narrow it down to 2. After having my children, I hated going to work outside my home and being in a situation that required me to work. I prayed and begged for something to come along that I could stay home but nothing. So I chose to keep trying for jobs. Many doors slammed in my face and I was growing in frustration. One time I had an interview for a position that was perfect, money was good, close to home and I had a great feeling about it afterwards. Well that was short lived as I was not successful. I did keep going and trying. I have since come to learn that the same place I thought was so perfect is one of the place the city I lived in has decided to shut down. Had I been hired on I’d be unemployed today.
The next incident was just a few years ago I had just started a new part time job and the last day of training when I was at home I fell on my stairs and sprained my ankle. This happened at a time when I was praying non stop for God to create a situation where I could be at home and not an hour away from my kids. I hated to work I wanted to be home with my babies who were toddlers and preschool then. I had been trying for many months to land jobs but I was getting constant no. I was really feeling regected when this ankle incident happened. It took 6 months before I felt strong enough to go back to work but I still wasn’t able to work at the same pace as I did. Feeling hopeless one day I went to prayer again and that night my husband came home and suggested home day care. Sharon I nearly fell off my chair. I had been wanting to do that since my oldest boy was born but my husband would not let me. He kept coming up with the house is too small, or we wouldn’t be able to take time off.
ANyways, It took 6 years of many rejections by employers, tears and a sprained ankle for my “ship” to come. I boarded and although it’s still rough seas it’s the best ship I can think of to be on because it is guided by the one and only God. I have many rough parts to sail through like right now when I am losing most of my daycare kids and need more for September but I trust God when he brings me into ports like this to have me rest and refocus before sailing on
My life began with rejection, the difference now is I choose to let God sail my vessel.
Thanks Sharon for your post. Sorry my repsonse is so long. Rejection is something I’ve feared all my life until God.
I love it. Thank you so much for sharing your story. I’m going to pray for you right now and ask that other readers pray too. Lord, I pray that you will bring more children into Nancy’s day care. I pray that someone who has a need to home child care will hear about her. Let it be a divine appointment. I pray you will meet the needs of two praying women – Nancy who needs children, and a mother who needs child care. Thank you God for being El Roi, the God who sees our needs, and Yaweh Jireh, the God who provides. In Jesus’ Name, Amen!
I will continue to pray for the Lord to sustain you and your family Nancy! 🙂 I was a home day care provider for about 12 years. Yes, there are sacrifices, there will be trials, and a time or two you may wonder what you were thinking when you decided to open a home day care! But you have entrusted your journey to the perfect Captain! I want to thank you and your husband for your sacrifice and service to these precious children and their families! The eternal implications of what you have been entrusted to do are unending! What a blessing it is for your children to have mom home, what a blessing you are to the other children that you will come to love through God’s power, what a blessing and a light you are to the other moms and dads of your day care children, what a bright light that you are to the other day care providers that you network with, and what a blessing you are to our Lord by lovin’ on His cherished little children!! This is your mission field! You are not only impacting days here on earth, but impacting eternities! Please thank your husband for me as well! It definitely is a sacrifice for the spouses. Please remind him that he is impacting eternities as well by being obedient to sail a ship called “day care” with the woman he loves!! It can be a wild ride at times! May God bless you greatly Nancy!
Marisa, as I read your reply, I could see that you are on one of your own ships -The Encourager! What a great reply! So often people are waiting for a word – and a word of encouragement can tip the scales so that the right course is evident. It’s no accident that “courage” is the root word of “encouragement”. It takes courage to “take a cab, take a plane, take a bus, take a ferry” in order to set sail on the ship of one’s calling.
Sharon, such a great story with a great lesson, I am reading this book called “take the Stairs” by Rory Vaden, another reminder to do the hard things, so easy to sit down, or give up, seems that is what life has handed us with all the technology, fast food, immediate gratification, easy way out…just a great reminder to me, not saying others battle with this, but I sure do and I want to fight it.
Thanks again for a great post!
This one was for me and I only have a few words to say LOrd I thank you. Zina
This one was perfect for what I am going through…I have walked in rejection a large part of my life connected to my being overweight…teasing as a child, rejection from men…lost a weight many times…but praying through this time as I have started another change of life style diet at 57 I see how my key is to accept myself as loved no matter what my weight or size by my Papa God. It is not easy and is definately not fast but I am hanging on. Please pray for me. Pamela
Wow!!!! Thank you so much for sharing your story…It was just for me!!!
This was for me. Years ago when my husband and I were raising our family we were offered an opportunity to start a business, but back than we didn’t believe we could do this business. It’s like you said we were told not to get on the ship that we couldn’tdo whatever it took and so we watched others sail without us. Back in February we meet a couple who offered to sponsor us in this same business that we had gotten in volved with years before, but some how this time feels different maybe because we’re older and have learned not to listen to those voices who say don’t get on that ship, or because we dare to dream that we are willing to persevere to have all that God wants for us and our family, more than likely it’s because we are tired of watching others sail with out us, so it’s time to let God chart our course, leave old friends behind and make new friends along the way. Leave behind the drama of doom and gloom from family and naysayers and set sail with God as our captain who is charting our course to adventures unknown , to places we could only dream about and to a life that is lived with all He wants us to be!
This was definitely for me. Its amazing how God has spoken to me thru your message and a friend who send me a text. Thank you for your encouragement.
This one was for me. I really needed to read this. Thank you so much for sharing.
Yes, this one was definitely for me. I was ready to give up and go home. So, here we go! I will do what it takes to press onward!
YEP! This one was absolutely for me!!
This one was for me – though I ask – OFTEN….How do you discern when God is saying don’t give up vs when his answer to your prayer is no?
This was for me! I needed this badly at this point in my life. Thanks!
This one was for me today!
Wow this one speaks to my heart because even back when I was a kid I was rejected by significant people in my family. Being a middle-child you just don’t know where you fit. But growing up I reestablished my identity to somewhat shield the pain from those who I couldn’t avoid. I did this by creating in my mind “heroes” mostly singers (famous) or movie stars whose image I longed to have. Later I learned how to distance myself from those who may want to get “close” to protect myself from pain. I guess that was my “going home” to a comfortable place rather than risking the trouble of moving forward toward the place I really needed to be. That was my safe haven of rest. Ultimately the Lord has pushed me out there and like Peter I have had to trust Him in the deep waters keeping my eyes on Him. My identity is in Christ now because I have him as my shield and protector. He is my rock and my fortress and He loves me immeasurably! I think of the scripture in John 1:11-12. He came unto to his own and His own received Him not but as many as received Him to them He gave the power to BECOME THE SONS OF GOD!
I have to add – that my ship is reconcilation with my ex-husband after I divorced him not even 4 months ago. I still love him very much and he loves me, but he has plans to move on to Miami (since he thought we were over). I don’t blame him, but 1/2 of me wants him to stay and work on the renewing of our relationship and marriage and the other 1/2 wants him to do what he feels best. I don’t want to seem “needy” or desperate. I would even go with him to FL if he asked me to start again. So right now this ship is in limbo. What is your opinion on this situation? I’ve prayed and asked for God’s will everyday. I pray that His will is for us to be together again. How do I just wait patiently for the answer?
Hi Maris-
Find your strength and comfort in the Word sweet sister. 🙂 God is the God of reconciliation, and sometimes “standing” for a dead marriage is that we look to Ezekiel 37:4 where Ezekiel is asked by The Lord to prophesy to these “dead bones”. With God, NOTHING is impossible, but we need to allow Him to change us as we remain faithful to pray for our spouse to know The Lord and the height, depth width, and breadth of His love. AND Romans 12:2 that we will not be conformed to the ways of the world, but that we would be transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we can and will test and approve what His perfect will is, His good pleasing and perfect will. I am thankful that God did not give up on Noah, though he had to wait over 100 years! My divorce was final in July after being separated almost 3 years. We have children and I know that this is not the Lord’s plan. So, these past years have been an “Esther” beautification program for me. 🙂 Cleanse me O Lord, see if there is any wicked way in me and lead me! I desire to be all He says I am and I will not quit, even in the face of the enemy’s wicked attacks. God’s Word is truth and it will never return void. The weapons of the enemy will not prevail over my family, nor leave a legacy of brokenness in my children’s lives or their children’s lives, and on down the line! I live in the reality of moving on while not denying that He has a plan and has allowed this to sift us. So, allow The Lord to heal your broken heart and be ready because His plan is always the best plan! The Word has lots to say about marriage and becoming selfless and allowing The Lord to be the foundation of the relationship.
Sorry to be so verbose, and nothing at all against my precious sisters who have remarried. This is just my story, and where The Lord has us, and the stand that I have taken. It is such an intimate, private journey that we take with The Lord and He promises to bless us and keep us when when seek Him with our whole heart. Blessings to you.
Thank you Sharon for sharing the wonderful words of encouragement! Too many times we want to give up and go home instead of putting our faith and trust in God the Father!!
Thank you so much. This was for me!!!!!
This one was for me, for sure!!
Thank you! This is just what I needs I be reminded of this morning.
This one was for me! I almost gave up on writing until God showed me it wasn’t how well I wrote but about the importance of the story itself. It wasn’t about talent, it was about reaching people. God took care of that; even though there is still some rejection, there is the joy of knowing that many read and understood the meaning of the words.
My fiance has a habit of ‘giving up’ every time we have a heated argument. It isn’t often, but enough to do damage. Last week, I was ready to give up too. I was tired of him ‘throwing in the towel’ and thought “What is the point of fighting for this? It WOULD be easier to give up”. But, “WE” are worth the fight. This one was for me. Thanks!
This ons for me. Feeling frusrated about working different casual jobs with short hours a distance from homeifeel im not getting anywhere or making money I need permanent employment. Prayers appreciated.
This one was for me. … Thanks SO much!!!!!
I know God was guiding you and I thank Him for having you post it. Thank you for taking the time to blog.
This is for me. I find myself now reporting to the VP and on equal ground with my previous boss. As my boss she took very good care of me. As her equal, I’m not sure if she feels threatened by me?, but shouldn’t. The Bible talks of how Christians have and will be persecuted. I always expected that to come from outside the faith, not within. As my boss has worked for a good while directly with our VP, she has her ear which I believe from lack of communication and a coolness in attitude is setting me up for failure. I just feel the need to separate myself and possibly even change jobs. I love what I do. I tend to be an introvert and my job sometimes requires I be an extravert..which I’m working on. But I don’t believe I’d be here for this long if God didn’t want me here. Our recent pastors sermons has me praying more purposefully for the situation however I’ve still allowed myself to be feeling pretty low about it and I find myself questioning is this really worth it. It’s just a job. Your article has made me realize perseverance along with my prayer and giving it up to God for Him to worry over is where it needs to be. Just a side note. I receive the Girlfriends in God daily and read. Yesterday it suggested signing up for your blog and I did, only to receive your perseverance blog today….just what God ordered. Thank you.!!
This one was for me!
This one was definitely for me! It will be beneficial for both my personal and professional goals. I am going to share this with my friends as well!!! Anything worth having is worth working for.
RiShawna M.
Thank you Sharon and God bless you for this timely blog. This one was really for me. It really hit home.
This was perfect. As I sit and question Gods timing and his will and purpose for our family. As what serles so clear at one time, seems so gray and cloudy now. Thank you.
My life from birth has been one that has forced me to take the taxi, bus, ferry, etc… but now at the young age of 54 I find myself cozening up with the TV remote and “woe is me” even though I have never been a “woe” person ever. I have given up, doubting everything I think and do. Thank you for polite kick in the butt to remind this is still a choice, not a defeat.
Glad I could provide the kick!
This one is for me!
oh – how this spoke to me and woke me up out of the funk I have been in – I needed a swift kick – thanks
This one was definitely for me.
I am retiring this year and I plan to take some classes for my business I am opening up soon. It is a scary time for me but I know I can do this with God’s help. So thank you for taking out all of the excuses.
This one was for me! Thank you!
This one was for me! I only recently signed up to receive your blog and it’s by no coincidence that this is the first blog I’ve received. Thank you for sharing.
Christy
This was for me. All my life I’ve felt as though my ship had not come in and when it did I was at the airport. Thank you for the encouragement to not give up.
This was for me in more way tha I can say. Thanks!
This one was for me! I am a lawyer in my late 50s who has over 20 years experience and I can not find a job. I believe it is age discrimination since so many employers simply say that I am “over qualified”. Yesterday I told the Lord again, that if He was redirecting me, I was wiling to give up being a lawyer all together and to follow His will, if he would just make the path clear. I begged Him to tell me whether I am to stand still and wait for his direction, or keep trying, because I feel that I am “striving in the wind”. I believe he is telling me through this post to keep trying.
To answer your question, I think you should find a forum of unemployed people, and share this post (and future ones of encouragement). Especially in NC where Governor McCory has cut off unemployment benefits, many middle aged people who are very willing to work, and unwilling to pursue government benefits for daily living are growing hopeless. The suicide rate among white men over 50 has increased 300 percent in the last two years. People need hope. You have a gift. Do what ever you can to encourage them.
This one was for me! I was just sharing with another sister in Christ this past week, about how my plans for the medical field, in particular, working as a cardiovascular tech were dashed after I tore my bicep tendon and had a subsequent repair. I could no longer do the lifting requirement. Since that time the Lord placed me in a different field with a different company. Just this past Saturday my husband and I began our orientation for ministry training (CAMS) through our denomination! We are excited to see what all the Lord has planned for us. I believe the Lord prepares us, sometimes for years, to the call that He has on our lives. We are trying to be obedient in taking this next step. The first step will be our exhorter’s license. I keep asking the Lord what he wants me to be when I grow up! He is showing me that I need to grow in Him. Thank you for sharing this!
my eyes are welled up with tears when i imagined after all the planning being told i’m not leaving. I’m imagining my reaction and i think everyone wld know i’m disappointed. i get very irritable, may the Lord help me, Thanks for the post it was meant for me.
Thank you for the prayers Sharon and Marisa. I have an interview tomorrow morning with a mom and a 6 month old just diagnosed with Down’s syndrome. Pray for this interview please. I’d love to take on this child. Blessings to you!
“This one was for me!”
This one was for me too! I am scared to leave my job and see where God will lead me.
This one was for me! Thank you so much, you are always an encouragement to me!!!
Tis ones for me
Good Day Sharon, this one is so for me!!!It’s like you wrote this specially for me. Thank you for shining a light in my dark corner and leading me out of it.
This is me. As I looked over what you had written and what others had written in their comments, I had to ask myself, why are so many people feeling this way? And the sad answer is because the world wants us to look at things from a different perspective than God does. When we look at things from his perspective, life is much better. I have felt like this was me from the beginning of my school days. We were very poor when I was growing up and I never had new clothes to wear to school like the other kids. I didn’t have money to do what they did. I was teased and made fun of so many times, I began to believe their words. They went deep into my heart and my life during the younger years were miserable. I know now, at 59 years of age, that I believed lies. I am valuable to God. I had a career as a Human Resource Manager and I loved it. I could do things that people told me I would never accomplish. This post helped me to see that even thought “I missed the boat” by others standards, I was fit to sail on God’s lifeboat. This has helped me through so many medical problems in my life and with the loving husband that I have standing by my side everyday of my life, I no longer feel I am “not fit to sail” but can sail anywhere God chooses to take me. I had three wonderful and caring friends throughout my school life and we are still friends to this day. They are like my family, not just friends that stuck with me in school and never judged me, just accepted me for who God made me to be. Thank you for the reminder that we all are “fit to sail” in God’s lifeboat he sends our way. god bless you.
This one is for me!
This one was for. Amen!
This was SO for me! Thank you, Sharon, for encouragement to just keep on keeping on, especially having the courage to follow God’s leading and never giving up even when someone tells me I’m not good enough. I will keep writing because I have a story to tell. Whether it is ever published or not is in God’s hands, not the one person who stomped on my dream at one writer’s conference! Write on!
This one is for me!!! I have been having those feelings of my ship coming in and I missed it. I really can’t put my finger on it, but I am a wife, mom and grandmother at this point in my life. After my daughter finished school I decided not to teach anymore, so I worked in the accounting department of a pool store. Later on I decided to go part time and I did and then finally I stopped working. I love being home so I can be with my children, grandchildren, and help my mom. I do not live close to any of them at least an hour away. But, now I just feel like I am not doing what I need to do to help my husband, like working. He says its ok, but sometimes I feel like it is not ok. So, I decided to start with Mary Kay and we have moved in a new area because of his job. He is retired from the military and has been working with Lockheed Martin for over 10 yrs, but they moved us to middle Ga and I really do not know anyone. We go to a fairly big church, but everyone I talk to either has someone already or does not wear Mary Kay. So I keep on plugging along and I feel like I should just give up but that is not my nature. I keep praying about it and I feel like the Lord will let something happen. I keep passing out books and my business cards. But, after reading this I need to keep on keeping on. I ask the Lord if this is not for me to please show me, but I have not seen anything yet. Please pray for me . Thank you for the article.
Hi Sharon, this was for me, thank you!!!! I’m living a very difficult situation with my husband (we’ve been married 8 years). I’m expecting my first baby and he decided that he doesn;t want to be with me or the baby anymore. I have feel the rejection and horrible pain, but I married for the rest of my life and I know that our marriage is in God’s hands. GOd has shown me that I need to continue praying and He will do the restoration in our marriage. So, even if my husband now thinks I’m not fit to sail with him, I’ll take the bus, the plane, the ferry and any other way that God tells me, because in Him we have our victory. Thank you again
This one was for me! Very inspirational – I needed to hear that! Thank you.
This one was definitely for me!! This is exactly where I’m at and this reminded me I am too stubborn to let temporary setbacks get me down. My God is too big to leave me where I’m at. And his dreams are so much bigger and better than mine. Thanks and God bless!!
This ones for me! (well for my husband and son)
Life throws some curves……
This is is most definitely for me ~ Thanks for the encouragement for the “courage” to continue on in my walk with the Lord. The scriptures 2 Chronicles and 2Tim 4: 7-8 have been my study in the Word lately .
Blessings
This one is for me. Right now there are areas in my life that I am waiting for my ship to come in. This article made me realize I need to do something to help my ship come in.
This one was for me. I’ve been trying to make a decision about a job. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Tis one is for me. I often feel like I am in the water, hanging onto a dingy for dear life, and many ships are passing me by, some days it seems like each and every hour. I am an artist, who works as a substitute in the school system. I have a daughter with severe anxiety which requires calm, continuous guidance. My marriage, like many, is a constant struggle of balance and flexibility between stress, finances, nurturing each other and taking care of ourselves. I struggle daily between the choice to pull back and regroup or press on through pain and hardship. I often worry and pray to make the “right” choice. But one thing this article and many of the comments have helped me realize today is that God does not always help me make the “right” choice, but most of the time through him, he makes my choices right. Thank you for you guiding words today.
Yes, Sharon, this 2as and is for me. Thank you for sharing.
This IS ME!! I have been MISERABLE at my job for a while and looking for something else but no door has been opened yet. This has been very frustrating, feeling unworthy that I’m too old to start a new job, lots of insecurity. Due to our family finances, I cannot leave this job without having something lined up, but reading all the comments I am encouraged to keep trying and find something that I can be happy to go to everyday and not so miserable! My oldest starts college this year and my youngest will be a junior in high school so money is tight!! Please continue to blog, I LOVE the encouragement and need it!! Please pray for me to keep going!!
This was for me. Thank you very much!
Thank You Sharon, this one is for me. I have been unemployed for over a year. I am receiving unemployment benefits but it is very little money. But I am praying every day and keeping the faith that God has something for me out there. Also have gone on a few interviews but I have come up empty. Still I am holding on to the promise that he will never leave you or forsake you. Thanks again Sharon and God bless you as you continue to inspire women.
This one’s for me! When I didn’t uplift for my company car and watched them t tow the old one away I caved. Now to get in my taxi, on my plane, on my ferry and see. Where The Lord takes me.
This one was for me! I have been walking (and admittedly, running mostly) through a physically and mentally valley moment for about 14 years now. I’m still in the valley, and I am still determined to keep moving! I am uplifted by your admonitions to not give up and appreciate the sobering reminder that there may be several twists and turns the Lord will guide us through (and walk WITH us through) to reach the place of restoration, success, and blessing he has planned for us. I have seen numerous medical professionals and alternative practioners that have helped me heal my body and mind. I have had some progress and setbacks, yet His peace and strength has been the enduring remedy that never changes or ceases to sustain me on this walk. Through this journey I have been humbled, experienced personal and professional failure, financial devastation, death of dearly loved ones, all while being blessed with new sisters and brothers in Christ, healing of some of the physical issues and restoration and renewal of the mind. He also sent the most wonderful man into my life during this time and we celebrate our 5th anniversary at the end of this year! I praise God for his faithfulness as he rescued me from a religious cult I had been a part of as a child. The fear and isolation prevalent in that particular organization was a factor in some of the emotional challenges I had to cope with as an adult. I know the He was protecting me even while I was still in that organization and once I came to know who Christ really is, I gained freedom in my renewed relationship with Him. And because of this freedom, my long walk of ‘detours, boats, ferries’, and whatever other failures, rejections, mishaps I encounter, I will press on! If I never get better or back to 100% of where I was physically, it will be good. I will have my relationship with Him and the testimony about the spiritual and emotional restoration He has graciously blessed me with. Through this valley walk I was led to restore a broken relationship with my father 18 months ago. I have been so blessed and encouraged through your blog and the GiG devotions; Thank you! May the Lord continue to bless you and others through your messages.
Joni J.
SW Ohio
This one is for me. Thank you so much.
This one was for me! I’m working on a blog and my writing so it was nice to read this. God bless you!
This one was for me! Until just recently I thought I had few fears. After spending some much needed time with God, I realized rejection is my biggest fear. From relationships, to work, to home I am filled with the fear of failing and rejection. Thank you for sharing the importance of perseverance.
Powerful Message…
This message is for a Christian woman who watched her dreams, and desires for a family sneak away when she wasn’t looking, when she was “waiting”, and “preparing”. A woman who thought she heard from God only to come to realize she didn’t. A woman who hoped that watching the ship sail away was only a trick or illusion praying that at any moment it would turn back, but it never did. A woman who is reaching out to God in the midst of this slamming face first into a brick wall fiasco wondering if she’ll ever recover, if her heart will ever heal, if she’ll ever trust , hope, or believe for the impossible again. This message if for the seasoned Christian woman who never would have thought or expected her faith would be rocked in such a way. A woman clinging on to The Word, praying everyday not to give up. Still praying for greater things to come. This message was for this woman, it is for me.
Keeping in mind…No matter what.. Great is Thy Faithfulness
Thank you Sharon, this was for me…..honestly ive been wondering how God speaks in situations but this is so much comfirmation. I met a stranger at school today , told him my situation and he had to cancel his schedules for the day to tell me his story(similar in every aspect to mine) and how God pulled Him through…i felt so encouraged all he told me was how he beleived me meeting him was not a coincedence….At first i did not read too much into the fact that the meeting was a divine setup.However after reading this i am reminded that He QUALIFIES the unqualified….im am in AWE of God
What strikes me is the question, “Is God in charge of calendars?” Do His closed doors provide the security, blessing, wisdom, love and sovereignty as His open doors? Do we give thanks in all things, for this is God’s will for us in Christ Jesus? Could you have craved something else for dinner instead? Could they have let you on anyway or not had a one degree fever? Was there a more important appointment at home that you refused to consider b/c your desire was to go on a cruise? I don’t think it’s as formulaic as push through every closed door presented. At least not in Scripture. The closed doors can provide eternal fruit that open doors don’t. God is in charge of every detail of every calendar, at least in Scripture. There don’t seem to be coincidences. It’s the fuzziness to know when it’s God closing the door and when circumstances have. I have a tendency to go with the stupid sheep approach and rely on the Shepherd to make it clear b/c I do NOT have the clarity to know – unless it is a directive from Scripture that fits all circumstances. Be kind, patient, loving. Be ready to give an answer for the hope within you, Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Do not commit adultery. Do not harbor bitterness. Make that next harbor no matter how many hoops you need to jump through? Mmmm – not so clear on that one.
You have to know that God has called you to something. We had no doubts about this trip. All through the Bible we see what looked like closed doors and people pressed on. The Pharoah closed the door in Moses’ face. King Saul closed the door in David’s face. The world closed the door in the disciples’ faces. And the Jews closed the door in Jesus’ face. Far too often Christian give up when things so wrong and say, oh well, I guess that wasn’t God’s will. I’m so glad that Noah didn’t give up when people made fun of him, that Joshua didn’t give up on day six walking around Jericho, that Moses didn’t give up when the Pharoah wouldn’t let the Israelites go, that David didn’t give up when Saul tried to kill him, and the list goes on. They key is praying and knowing for sure what God’s plan for you is.
Oh course we prayed about continuing on before we jumped through all the hopes to continue. I am so thankful that I made it to Ephesus and stood on the mount where Paul preached Acts 17! In him we live and move and have our being – the theme verse for A Sudden Glory! When we press on in the face of disappointment, we will see many moments of sudden glory as God makes His presence known in our dark times.
This one is for me! I want to go home and take the easy road. But I see from this post that I need to fight. Please pray for me. I really don’t want to fight. But I told God when I prayed that if by fighting that it would bring more souls or a soul to him, then I would fight. I have been waiting on the answer from God. I feel that this post is the answer. I recall a scripture that says that He would renew our strength to run the race. I need that renewal! Because I am tired of fighting! Blog friends, please pray for me!
This is so good.I have felt rejection so much in the last year.friends who i thought would never betray me have.My kids are grown but they have been arugmentative about things i could never imagine they would..And i have hurt so bad because it’s my kids.I feel i have been a very good mother.I have been there for them time an time again.But it seem like when i need them the most they are not to be found.The thought keeps coming to me Jesus was rejected too by everyone so just hang in there and everything will get better.
Please pray for me that the strength will sustain me.And some how my kids will get back in church and they things will be so much better.
God bless,Quada
This has my name written all over it. Confirmation that I need to pursue the dream of being a fashion designer that God birthed in me some 40 something years ago.
This one was for me! Thanks for your encouraging words daily. They touch me more than you’ll ever know.
This one is for me!
This was for me. Thank you always another way of looking at life/ situations. God Bless you and all the lives you touch. 🙂
This one is for me:-) Rejected from Employer and Family, but Im in a good space again, back in my own home. I Surrendered and allowed God to Lead my Life for ths 1st time in my 52 yrs. During my divine assignments, He gave me peace in the midst of the storms and for that I’m so Grateful! Recently, I learned that I must continue to follow Him.while Pressing toward the mark. (Phil 3:14) In Greek, Pressing means to make yourself move. This was music to my ears. #iwillcontinue2MoveForwardbyFaithInHim.
I’ve been thinking of giving up on my marriage. After just 9 yrs it seems over. He eats @ his desk, I at mine in different areas of the house. He sleeps in his computer room. He spends his nights out w the guys. I sit home with my computer games, tv or a book. I keep trying buy he doesn’t like any of my ideas. Refuses to read by forwards on faith. I am at the dock looking at the ship steward asking me if I am boarding or not!
Thank you so much for sharing this story! This one was very definitely for me today!!!! Praise God for working through your writing!
This one was for me! Thank you Sharon(:I was told at rehab 7 years ago, that I wasn’t fit to sail, and so I did what I needed to do to get in. That was to stand firm on God’s promise for my life! I trusted in him and leaned not on my own understanding, acknowledging him in all my ways and he directed my path (Proverbs 3:5-6). Today I have a powerful testimony that will soon be heard by many and it’s all for God’s glory!
this one is for me, I really needed to hear this today!
This one is for me. I thank God often for women like you and the others at GIG and those who help me along my path. I know that God has a plan for me and I also know I need to be still and listen for His guidance. Thank you for writing this post.
Well Sharon, If you wanted to generate input this one certainly did that. I think this is a message for everyone. I personally could remember a couple of instances right in line with your story where my movement was blocked. Unfortunately, the first time, I cried and cried and then let it go. The second time is still waiting and I hope to go at it again next fall. This was a great post and I think if you can get it out there in a public forum it will touch many.
This one was for me!
This one is forme. I know my job is for me. I work with the mentally ill. I work third shift . Last night I had a very trying night. Even took a break which I never do! I also verbally talked about to coworkers. Didnt give it to god. Came home, seriously thought about giving it up….work in a store….mentally exhausted. I know that I do very good with my patients and know this is my calling! Please pray for me……let me rest my body and soul so I can go were god wants me. Bless you,
This one was for me. It re-affirmed that the changes and challenges in my life that have happened, have a reason. May be I did just go home with things and because of that I learned to just give up. By facing them and dealing with the fact that there is not just one answer to things has helped me grow especially with God. I needed to let go and let God direct me and that was the problem I never submitted to a father who loved me so much and wanted to bless me if I was just willing to trust and obey and face the challenges head on. Yes it was rough but I knew it wouldn’t be easy, God needed me to learn that Giving up was not an option he didn’t give up on me and he never would, that he would walk me through the hard and dark times all I needed was to trust, believe and have faith in him and his word. I am blessed because I made it through I still have work to do as we all do. Gods children are always learning and growing. It is nice to know you are not alone facing challenges and that everyone has there own to deal with but its how we deal with it, is it with God or our own will. I know my will doesn’t work because it isn’t God directed its a different agenda in some ways, but with God there comes lessons and learning as well as blessings, Its an unbelievable experience, not to say that its all good times because it isn’t, its a renew of faith a confirmation of his word and abiding love.
Thank you for your messages and lessons that you share, they are helpful and insightful blessings that are often the answers to prayers some are waiting for. God Bless
This one is for me!!!! THANK YOU.
Hi Sharon,
This one is a reminder for me on how Great our God is!!! My new husband and i have been p;lanning our wedding (August 4, 2013) for some time now, and God has brought us through so many storms, family rejection etc, through each step I have been reminded by my husband that every thing will be ok, it will all work out. We have been in God’s hands through out our relationship and are resting in his arms as we begin our new married life. There are more storms coming and we wll meet them standing strong with God’s help.
Thank you for the encouragement
The story about the trip to Greece is a great one. I think it could go in one of your books; maybe if you wrote one on a theme like perseverance?
This one was for me! I actually had to read it twice before I realized what my ship was… When my first son was born, I wanted so badly to be able to nurse him but something that should be so natural proved to be very difficult and while I was able to nurse I had to formula feed and supplement with breast milk…I could just never get my supply where my hungry boy needed. When I learned I was pregnant with my second son, I started praying and praying hard that God would allow me to breast feed. Well, my boy came and my prayers were answered! I was able to nurse him successfully and even put over three pounds on him in the first two months. And then it happened. I started to stress about my weight and not being able to fit into any of my “fat” clothes so I started watching my portions and my nutrition took a nose dive. My hubby then left for two weeks on a fire assignment and between a toddler, an infant and issues with a sick dog I was stressed to the max. At my son’s four month appointment yesterday, the thing I feared the most happened: my son had only put on 6oz in two months and I am now on doctor’s orders to feed him a bottle after every nursing session. Talk about feeling like someone literally booted me off my boat… I definitely heard the words “not fit to sail”… Not fit to feed my son. Not qualified enough, not equipped, you should just give up. Thank you for this article – the timing is a total God thing. I was in a wrestling match with Him – wondering why would He deny me this desire my heart wants so badly? I was on a boat and thought I was safe but realized that I was trying to ride a boat without a captain… A wave came and I got thrown overboard… Now I need to figure out how to pick myself up and get back on my boat. I don’t want to drown in the feeling of not being fit to sail… I want to be on my boat SO badly but I can’t put it ahead of God. I was doing it subconsciously – making this desire bigger than mu desire for God – but I need to turn this back over to Him and pray that His will be done. I’m so thankful that aside, although he’s small, I have a very happy, healthy growing boy (two, in fact!). I am blessed. Now I just have to find another port and see if I can be granted permission to reboard…
This one was for me!!! I hit rock bottom this past Sunday. Just gave into my despair and cried all day long because we had left our home in MD to move to FL on what we felt was God’s leading but this past year has been challenging and disappointing to say the least! I felt like I was just existing to get through another day. The last 2 days since, I have been bombarded with devotions and blogs on this topic. Yours included :)! So Thanks so much for the encouragement. I am going to embrace “the new normal” (another blog I read) and see what God has in store for us. He brought us here for a reason and I need to just look UP and trust in His timing not mine. I’m pretty sure he was waiting for me to get on board with the new program but I was fighting Him along the way!
This one was for me. In more ways than I could explain. Thank you
thank you for confirming the word “Press” I know through this article/blog/encouragement, people will find the supernatural strength to get pass the go home and board their ship. Thank you
this is for me,I have lived years of rejection..a marriage where my husband said I wasn’t good enough, and he had many affairs, and told me no one would ever love me. ( never trusted anyone enough to find out) I have struggled financially for years, and delt with loneliness.I am going to try and buy a used mobile home soon, and am fearful of being rejected. Thanks for sharing
You cannot sail through life without missing a boarding or two! My life has been a series of trials and circumstances that were beyond my control. Of being fired, or not getting a deserved promotion or children that failed to meet their life’s potential. We can wallow in self pity or take matters into your own hands, further your education, ask for a review to hone your skill set and find a mentor for your kids. A couple of my my favorite sayings that aptly describe my life view are; “let nothing stand in your way, if you come up against a road block find away to go either, over, under or around, never give up!” And “When faced with a challenge, be like a dog with a bone, don’t let go until you have conquered it!” All things are possible with God!
Such a good word here, Sharon. Such.
Really grateful for you. ~ Jennifer Dukes Lee
This one is for me . I have been in a lawsuit with my on kids since my husband died . There’s been times I wanted to give it all up but I haven’t because I believe in justice whether it be with the judge in the court room or the 1 and truly judge god.
This one is for me. Jobs and schooling struggles are in my life right now. I must not give up or let rejection take me down. Thanks for this! God timing is always perfect, never early, never late. Always right on time!
This was exactly the words I needed to hear. Rejection has showed up a lot over many years of my life. I have had to plug away so it would not overwhelm me concerning my adoption and finding my roots with my birth family. God has been good. The latest snub has been from a niece of my husbands who I thought liked me a lot and turned out to tell me I have ruined the whole family and my mother inlaw would be ashamed of me for how I have been behaving. She spoke for the whole family and I know it was a lie. Not everybody feels that way. I have had to carry on and move onwards and it has been really hard to take.
I am more confused in my own situation since reading your article. I have been very burned out at work mostly by management and beauracrcy issues. It has gotten so bad I was going to give up and get a new job. The problem is I like working with my clients and I am now thinking that God wants me to press on and work through the difficulties. How do you whether pressing on is the answer or trusting God for something new is right. I just don’t think I have the strength to press on.
Thanks so much for writing this and sharing with all. Dealing with P.T.S.D. due to emotional abuse and grieving loss of spouse and just need to hear words of encouragement. God bless and keep on letting the blessings flow through you to His Glory <3
I know how you feel still grieving and dealing with some emotional abuse since my spouse passed away.it has been six yrs, and I can only trust and have faith that some day the lord will show me how to deal with all this better.I suffer with angxiety and depression.never had a career.I don’t know how to make things better.I just take one day at a time some very lousy ones.I have to keep praying and keep my head up you do the same.may the lord heal us and bless,with happy days ahead.
This was for me! I had given up hope about a lot of things. There were difficulties at work. Challenges with my children. Loosing direction for my future. Watching others “sail away”. Now I am looking forward to the “crazy idea” for my dream! Thank you!
This one was DEFINITELY for me!! Thank you for allowing God to use you in such a tremendous way. Be blessed and continue to bless!
As soon as I began to read this, I concluded “this was for me” but now I don’t know. My husband of 10 years insisted on a divorce nearly 4 years ago. First I prayed for us to get back together. Then for him to carry out his responsibilities especially financial to his children. Then for him to move to another country. Then for him to just be kind to me. All but the last and first prayers have been answered. He’s still ‘rejecting’ me by questioning the way I bring up the children or how much money he sends to them. I decided a while ago to keep praying for him to do what I’m not quite sure 🙂 How do I not give up? Why does his opinion still matter to me? Please advise: was this for me?
This one was for me. Really.
I got to work yesterday only to find i had been disabled from the company email system. I was devastated. And here i had been doing my best and trying to be relevant in the scheme of things, thinking that surely, someone somewhere would notice and perhaps i’d be recommended for a lift in my career. I almost gave up. But now, i know better. I’m going to work harder till i get on the ship God has for me.
This one is for me
This one is for me. Thank you.
This one was for us! My husband lost his job of 12 years on Monday. Went into work and was told he was no longer needed. He was at top of the pay scale and they could save money by replacing him. He put his heart in the job. He was on call 24/7. We now see the blessing in it. The job was slowly going to kill him and God has already shown us he has something better. It is scary and the road may be long but we will do whatever He wants us to do to get on the ship! Thank you!
this one was for me!
This one was for me!
In so many ways I’ve let other people determine how to leave my life and stayed on the back seat being led in directions that I didn’t want to go to. But I got a wake-up call and decided this is my life and I need to take charge and I gave God the driver’s seat.
Even though more than enough times you feel like giving up and that whatever you want to do might never work but I thank God that He’s not given us a spirit of fear 🙂
This one was for me!
Be Blesses
This one was for me. I have faced rejection being reunited with my children after fifteen years of separation due to very bad choices i made in life. I have held on to the belief that God would reunite me with the ones i love more than anything else in this world. I am in the process of trying to be patient while God heals my family.
This one was for me. I have faced rejection being reunited with my children after fifteen years of separation due to very bad choices i made in life. I have held on to the belief that God would reunite me with the ones i love more than anything else in this world. I am in the process of trying to be patient while God heals my family.
Thank you it was so for me. You hardly ever here a practical lesson on this.
a bit of a different twist for me that dad was a perfectionist and nothing was good enough. my weight always made me feel inadequate and my health is a real struggle. but god is enough. by his strength I will prevail and not give up. I choose to look at the face of Jesus and not my pain and disappointments. thanks
This one is for me. Even today’s devotion was for me. Bitterness/Better hit me straight in the face. But, the good thing was that I had already asked for forgiveness and discussed it with my love one. Although, the devotion made me realize why I took on that spirit of bitterness. It was deep rooted personal things I was dealing with but needed a platform to magnify it. God helped me through you to see me and release that spirit from me. Doing a check up daily on our selves is very needed. Thank you for your inspiration.
This one was for me. I am encouraged to keep pressing on.
Thank you for this post.Sharon.
This is for my friend. She was shut out of school so many years ago and has still held onto the pain of that rejection to this day. I pray that this doesn’t push her father into darkness. I pray that she be healed and restored. I pay that her heart be responsive to You, Lord.
This one is for me! and everyone, christian or not. Praise God, I am now at the stage after the okay from the ship’s doctor.
This one is for me. I have not been allowed to have the grandmother experience I had so dreamed of with my son’s children. My son holds a grudge against my husband, his stepfather, that he holds from 12 years back and didn’t even truthfully tell me about until 2 years ago. I have tried multiple times and ways to work through to his forgiveness and reconciliation, but I am stilled denied my grandchildren coming to stay with us. I can come see them even with my husband and they all come visit us only at Christmas. It has been a very heartbreaking experience for me. These are my only grandchildren. I have forgiven my son, but he doesn’t even want to discuss things to reconcile with my husband. This doesn’t even involve his children – the incident he holds a grudge against happened before the birth of his children and concerned an incident at the time of my father, his grandfather’s, death in the hospital.He is very kind and cordial to my husband, but just withholds the children ever being able to come stay with us.
This was for “me”. You have no idea…
This one was for me! thanks so much for sharing your wisdom and insight. I am a “glass half empty” kinda girl so it is hard for me to see the bright side of things. My husband is a pastor and sometimes the going gets very tough. My first response is to just give up and go home when the opinion of “someone who matters” tells him he is just not good enough. This post hit me on several different areas of my life that I know God is patiently working on. Praise be to our Lord Jesus Christ who is so kind and patient with a woman’s heart!
Blessings,
Sophia
This one was for me!
Thank you for posting!
This one was definitely for me. Thank you so much for your encouraging words! I so needs to hear that.
This one was for me!!!! Thanks!
This one was for me, Sharon. After over 20 years, the first guy I was engaged to came back inot my life after he got a divorce. We have been dating for almost a year. We live in two different states but have made it a point to see each other twice per month since we are only a four hours drive away. We both are very Christ centered. My friend was in a very controlling marriage whichisolated him from his family and all of his friendships and life activites were centered around his ex-wife and her family. Recently, he met some new found buddies who are either also divorced or single. They are now golfing and having a great time. Now he has told me that he is not ready to be in a committed relationship. My ship is sailing away without me and I am so broken-hearted. He still calls me contantly but we are going in different directions. I know he cares about me but the excitment of freedom in a glamourous city has taken him away from me and also it is pulling him away fromhis christian foundation, the church. My ship is sailing away from me. i am praying but I am soo brokenhearted.
This one was for me – thanks so much! God Bless!!
this one is for me. x4549857043791 🙂
This one was for me!!
I opened my bakery in December of 2010. As it was in my home I had to deliver every order. I did many parking lot events, pulling my trailer loaded with all I might need right behind me. I gave product to nearly everyone in my town trying to establish myself.
Realizing I had to decide whether to continue deliveries or open a store front, I decided on the store front. I looked high and low because location, location, location is very true.
I opened in a strip mall and the journey began. Little did I know there were 2 major grocery stores 4 & 6 miles down the road that catered to the huge neighborhoods and I was in for a fight to compete. I did manage to stay long enough to honor my lease but I knew I had to go.
A good friend of mine had opened a restaurant (my husband spent a year helping them get it all done) so when the offer came from them for me to open in their restaurant it sounded so perfect. What could be better than being inside a restaurant for exposure right. Well… Once I had finished with my own build out there and was waiting on my business license to be approved, Homeland security came in and busted my friends for staying in this country illegally 12 years past their visa expiring. So, I had to go again.
This happened in March of 2013 leaving me with a lot of bakery equipment and no where to go.
Once again I found a space in a well known shopping center & no grocery store around for miles. I applied, passed all necessary paperwork and at the last minute The property owners wanted another $2.00 per square foot. Well, that did not work out so well either.
I am now fixing to rent a space in a great location and the landlords actually want me there. They are bending over backwards so I can have plenty of time to establish myself.
Persistence ( and maybe a screw loose ) is and always has been what separates the worker from the entrepreneur.
Is it hard yes. Is it worth it Yes. So, here I go again!!!!
Sharon, thank you so much for sharing this much needed message. This was exactly what I needed today. It reinforces what I feel the Holy Spirit wants me to address tonight. I have kept your book, The Power of A Woman’s Words, on my nightstand for years, along with Stormy Omartian’s, The Power of A Praying Woman. These are my ‘go to’ books for quick scriptural references for my small online prayer ministry. I always include select scripture after I compose personalized prayers for those in need.
Again, thank you Sharon. You have been a source of encouragement to me for several years. I am an avid fan of both Encouragement for Today and Girlfriends in God. May our Heavenly Father continue to bless you abundantly.
Thank you so so much for me
Yes, this was for me this morning. I was about to give up on my husband and marriage, because I was told that I was not a good wife, since we have been married and I cause him to do the things he do. I was ready to say well since I am not good enough… GOOD BYE. Reading this helped me see that I need to stand firm to GOD’s word. He knows I am wonderful, because he made me that way. Man can not block what GOD has done!
This one was for me!
THIS ONE’S FOR ME. It reminds me of Phillipians 4:13. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!!
Definately , this one is for me . Thanks for the encouragement Sharon .
this was for me. keep moving forward don’t let the enemy or other rejecttions from stopping us from our dreams and times for rest and exploring the world when we can glad you finished your trip.would love to go there myself one day.when the time is right,but there will people and family rejection my need for a break from fear angxity.Im a widow and need a trip to renew me somehow.If I can do this I will remember this to press on .THANK YOU.
Indeed this one was for me. Thank you Sharon. I am encouraged, i have been going down a dry spell of discouragement. At one point i even wondered if at all God hears my prayers. Today you reminded me to dust myself up and stop the pity party and press on in order to experience the sweetness of success. (Tumie,BOTSWANA)
This one was for me, never going to think about giving up again.
This one has my name written all over it!! Thanks for reminding me that I need to take what God says about me and press forward. I do not have to listen to others define me. God delights in me and I am the apple of His eye and He has equipped me to succeed not matter what!! Love this article!!!
This was for me.
Almost 3 years ago, my family fell apart. My husband had been verbally/emotionally abusive for over 20 years…my kids were all acting out in different ways. Feb 2010 my oldest left home at 17 yrs. old. we haven’t seen or spoken to her since. My husband and I separated and then divorced this year. We sold our home where my 3rd child had been bullied. Friends and family seemed to disappear from our sphere of support. I know that for most of this journey, I followed God’s plan. I knew that what I was doing would be risky and costly but definitely necessary for change and healing. My dream had always been to have a successful marriage and be a parent my kids could count on, no matter what. I felt my ship had sailed without me.
But a still quiet voice touched my ex-husband’s heart. It changed him. I am watching. I am waiting. I want my family back. People have said he can’t change. That she might not ever come home. It may be crazy but I have never given up~ I can’t~ I won’t.
Thank you for writing something that clearly touched people’s hearts and souls!
Praying for you. Your story is too close to home.
Definitely for me! People telling me not fit to be a mother because I am struggling with my son’s behaviour. Been trying to get help for months but getting rejected due long wait list. Your article gave me hope that there is more one way to get on the ship. Praying help comes….
this was for me! now totally confused as to whether I’m suuposed to chase the ship or not but this is definitely where i’m at right now!
Pinned and shared! While I’m not there right now I have been there many times!
I have a question. What if this is the trip of your dreams and your friends all plan to go – but don’t invite you? What then? How do you handle that rejection?
This one is for me, more then you will ever know! But my Father knows!
This one was for me!!! And at the right time!! God put something on my heart so many years ago and it’s so hard to see your friends on the ship without you while you are pushing with all your might to get on! Will keep fighting and believing!
Thank You 🙂
This one is for me!
What an encouragement to persevere! Thank you for writing this post that hit home for me. It can be all too easy to use rejection and other’s opinions to distract me from what I know God has called me to do.
Blessings and love,
Debbie
I didn’t want to read this, because I was so sure you were going to tell me to go home and realize that wanting to be on the boat was proof of selfishness. But you didn’t. This was SO for me!
It was for me!
This one was for me! I’m starting a new position at work, and I’m getting on the ship with fears that others will say, I’m not fit to sail. I know God gave me this job for a reason. The work for me is trusting that he knows best.
Thanks! After just getting home from a FAILED job interview, I needed to know I am not washed up! Just need to brush up on technology!
So the next thing! Keep moving forward.
This was for ME…without a doubt God speaking through your amazing words. I’ve been seeking him so much and have felt I was well onto preparing my way to the “ship” and just this week I watched one of my best friends be offered the ship instead and sail away. I felt hurt, sad, frustrated, and confused-it was my ship and I felt wronged. After the initial shock I realized I could sit home and mope around feeling sorry that my ship left or I could keeping going, know God has another bigger and better ship ready. Whether I missed that ship because of Him or because I didn’t act when I was called, I now know that I want to be ready and ensure I make port on my next ship! Thank you for your words!
for me, Jesus died for me, HE bore my sins, He saved me, Jesus Christ is my LORD. His LOVE never fails, and is the greatest, He died once and for all. He is for me. He leads me in the way everlasting. I was born for such a time as this. He formed me in my Mother’s womb, He has sealed me with the Holy Spirit of promise, my spirit bears witness with the Holy Spirit that I am a child of the Living God. My birthday declaration. 8/17/1961
Thank you. I needed to hear this. Sometimes it seems like I am the only one to whom this has happened, but in scrolling down to get to leave my comment, I see that we are all far from alone.
You are so right. We have the same enemy who wants to destroy us. But the good news is we have the same Savior who came so that we could live fully and free!
This one was for me!
Thank you.
it was for ME.
I am loving your perseverance in getting On That Ship.
and also the analogies and questions in your last three paragraphs.
what has startled and hurt me most in my own “not fit to sail” story,
is the belief that i DESERVED it.
when all of hell breaks loose against us
all of HEAVEN STANDS.
there IS a great cloud of witnesses cheering us on
and you have too with this most excellent post.
thank you.
Hebrews 12:1
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,
Amen, Cindy!
This was for me. I must keep on being the wife I’m to be no matter what. Thank you.
This one was for me!!! Very timely, too. Thanks so much for sharing your story and your heart. You have encouraged me!
This one was for me. Thank you!
This one’s for me!!!! Absolutely needed this today!! Thank you!!!
This one is for me! Sometimes I regret w/ the decisions that I postponed for the sake of others and bc of my present situation. I once listened to a lecture that it is a great thing when we ‘hit a homerun in front of a booing-crowd’. I’m waiting for that day, but am also seeking this and that in what I may be able to do in my present position but hope to be guided in His will through me the way that He had created me. 🙂 Thank you.
This one was for me!
That’s for me, but I’ve decided that I’ll make the crazy journey to get on the ship.
More than anything I’d like to say ‘this one was for me!’ Yet part of me is so cautious after so many doors being firmly shut over the past 5 years. There’s been incredible pain from so-called Christians, ones whom I had looked up to and respected, yet they acted in such unethical and un-biblical ways. It hurt, and worse, it hurt my husband who had come so far after decades of prayer. I still have faith in God, still love Jesus, still know the power of prayer, but I am not sure if I am hearing correctly anymore. Funny how brokenness can deafen a person.
I thought your blog was encouraging, and after reading the comments I can see it has touched many, many people. I pray you continue to be open in your sharing.
This one was for me. Thanks for sharing.
First, I don’t think this is too long for a blog. It is heartfelt and authentic, and applicable in many situations. Based on the comments, many people needed to hear this and thought it was written just for them.
Second, sometimes God IS closing a door and asking us to go in a new direction. That’s why I call my blog Uncharted Water: Trusting God No Matter What Comes My Way. God is working in my life to teach me not to give up, but to rely on Him instead of my own efforts, to be willing to drift because He is in the boat and He knows the destination and it is for my good. Yes, there are times when I need to keep moving forward, trying to stay where I want to go, but sometimes I need to adjust, to learn the lessons God has for me and change because I’m not glorifying Him. The challenge–at least for me–is to know the difference.
You are so right. The challenge is to know when to press on and when God has a different direction. All through the Bible we see men and women who pressed on in the face of difficulties that I would have most likely just quit and gone home. Noah pressed on when people made fun of him. I’m not sure I would have walked around Jericho seven days. I would have probably given up on day 3. And then there’s that Pharoah. Mercy. I would have been the Moses who said to God, “OK Lord, this is not working out the way I had hoped. I must have heard you wrong. I’m going back to the sheep.” And David? I would have said, “God, I thought you said something about me being King, but I must have misunderstood.” What I see is Christians thinking they must have heard God incorrectly when times get tough.
But you are oh so right. The key is listening to God! May we all keep our ears to the heart of God as we live and move and have our being in Him! A little PS. That is one of my favorite verses, Acts 17:28. After I did get on that ship, and did get to Greece, I stood on Mars Hill where Paul preached that sermon and read Acts 17 with my friends.
Amazing! And truly a blessing! Thank you for sharing. This one was for me!
This one was for me.
This one was for me!
Very well written & so true, if we are willing to wait, listen & accept advice from someone who cares about us.
But this sentence: “I don’t know what you ship is today.” is missing one letter. The ‘you’ word needs a ‘r’ on the end.
This one was for me.
This one was for me! I’ve got some ideas I realize have come from God, but I haven’t followed up on them. I’ve also had a dream come true when I was about to give up, and a friend whose opinion I valued greatly told me NOT to give up, NOT to take one person’s opinion. I took her advice and the 15th Judicial Circuit CASA (Court Appointed Special advocates) Inc is still in existence, advocating in court and being a voice for abused and neglected children. Yes, I was told “you might as well go home” in those words exactly. Thank God I didn’t go home!
I so appreciated this and praise the Lord for recent ship He had me get on with my employment and what I’ve learned along the way from it so far.
This one was for me!! Thank you. The Lord knew I needed this encouragement today.
Diane, I understand your feelings and hesitation after being burned by those calling themselves Christians. I’m here to tell you I walked that painful road for 11 years, and thought about walking away from Jesus and the church. However, The Lord used His children outside of the Body I attended to help me believe solid believers who lived the truth existed, and now almost a year later I’m finding peace and joy like I never believed possible with a Body who strives to honor Jesus in the way they treat others. Don’t give up. Find a small raft to travel on until He strengthens you to board the ship, Sister.
Thank you for your words of encouragement. This one was for me!
this one was for me… and on my birthday of all days. thank you. quite an uplifting way to start my thirties.
This one was for me.
Thank you, this one is for me. I am reminded gratefully that all efforts reap fulfillment, joy and satisfaction.
This one was for me. Thank you for the encourament to persevere!
This one is for me. I am seeking God’s guidance in my life. I am seeking His will in our church family.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! This one was definitely for me! Nearly three years ago I finished student teaching, but at the end of the program was told I wasn’t fit to be a teacher. I was told this for about a year. I have a disability that has made learning and social interactions difficult for me and although I learn, I don’t learn as quickly as most would expect. Because of the words of others I doubted myself and my abilities, but I didn’t give up. I took the time away from my dream to better my skills and learn how to accept myself. Tomorrow I start as a life skills instructional assistant and to be honest, I am scared of failure at times, but I know that God works everything together for my good because I have been watching him do it over and over in my life and I trust that He will continue to do so.
Anyone dealing with rejection of any kind needs to hear this. We need to encourage each other in our victories after the struggle. We always want to find the path of least resistance but it has the least rewards as well. Praying you find the right spot to get this story out there more. Maybe a small short story booklet? Keep writing you have a gift! Thank you for encouraging me tonight!
This one is for me……..thanks!
thank you, it was for me, but I was on line in the wrong ship.. I thought but with doubts.. there was a man to meant to be with me and also he thought that.. he makes me bieleves in that, even with a lot of rejections and coming backs around 3 years… til 2 months ago.. . finnaly he get married with otrher women 2 weeks ago.. so I can´t do anything.. there is no place to keep going.. with his actions I receive a lot of lies in my mind about myself.. stil its hard.. but what I see now that I have to believe that Iám a King´s doughter and it was not the will of God this man.. may be my ship is to grow up in dignity.. really I´m not sure what is my ship now.. just that i have to go with God ..whatever ship which can´t leave me without God..
Yep, this was for me too. My illness has kept me from doing so many things. Becoming a doctor and doing a ministry with that overseas one day. Just living a life that I know I’m born to live because I feel it deep in my chest and I know my life wasn’t meant to be “the chronically ill girl.” I know one day I will be able to be healthy enough to go back to school. I may get done when I’m 60, but I’m going to do it!!
It’s tough experience dreams shattered by life’s circumstances and situations. As a mom, I’ve held one of my babies’ body after he lost a battle to an infection that destroyed the lining of his lungs. The next year and half was met with watching friends and family members experience the joy of children. Mine was met with another heartbreak- a miscarriage. Yet, through the heartbreak, God was there. Every step of the way. He taught me to find joy in the little things in life. The sun shining through the trees. The laughter of my daughter. The tiny flowers blooming along the sidewalk. He held my hand and held me close to His heart through that journey. 20 years later I face another challenge. My youngest daughter of 18 is an expectant mother. The heart break of not seeing her walk down the isle for graduation due to the fact she broke the rules at a Christian school was like a nightmare gone bad because I couldn’t wake up from it. My duties as music director and directing the performing ensembles for the event left me devistated and with sleepless nights. It is a painful memory to hear where your daughter’s name is so supposed to be called. Yet, my Heavenly Father is right here, as always, loving me and my family through yet another storm in life. He gently reminds me in His Word to press on (Philippians 3:13-14). He declares to my family that He will restore the years the locust have eaten (Joel 2:25). He promises that in all things He works for the good for those who love Him. (Romans 8:28). Though we can’t see around the next bend in this road we call life, we know that God can. He will protect us and strengthen us. And at the end of this journey, it is His eyes we will look into and it is in His arms we will run!
Linda: I am so sorry. I also lost a child and know the pain of that. One thing that you and I have to look forwarad to when we do run into God’s arms, is our children who are waiting there for us.
Sharon
I came across your blog from Ann Voskamp sharing it!
Surely, “this was for me”!!!!!! I have been excited to begin a new ministry program at our church…and I was “denied passage”. God’s timing…I know it will happen. Thank you for encouraging me today to press on 🙂
This one was for me!
This one is for me. Since I had left my job in January, I’ve been up and down emotionally. I’ve been on many interviews to be rejected. In fact I have another one this afternoon. I believe the right job for me is out there. I know the door God is opening is coming. I’m looking down the hallway searching to find it. Thank you for this encouraging word.
Thank you!
You are such an inspiring writer Sharon, even at 66, I love to read your posts. I always feel so encouraged and like someone is cheering me on. And once again, you hit it right on the nail. How many of us have been exactly at that place where we just want to give up and go home, but persevere we must. You asked who should read this????? I can’t think of a single woman who doesn’t need to read this article, we’re all going through one thing or another and this word encourages us to press through and not quit. Thanks you so much for sharing.
Thank you Jackie.
Sharon, thank you for this timely inspiration, I have experienced so much rejection in this pass year that if I didn’t have an intimate relationship with God I probably would have committed suicide. But, thanks be to God who has redeemed my life from all destruction I am chasing after my purpose in Christ with my boarding passes in hand. My faith will not be denied! God bless you!
Yes it is or isn’t for me – i really dont know – its matters of the heart – how could i have been so sure about something that has now not worked out – i want to go after her otherwise my soul will not rest and i will hurt a lot of people trying to fill the love gap – would God want that really?… I really pray he steps in in some way- i dont want to grab the remote – i want the girl i love but distance in miles came between us… its crazy – pray please for me that God intercedes – i dont want peace with a remote – thats a cop out….
This was definitely for me! But mine is rejection from family. I wrote a blog piece too. Link is here:
http://elimrenewalforawomansheart.wordpress.com/2012/09/24/rejection/
Thank you SO much!
this one was for me! thanks a lot!
Hi, came here by way of ann voskamp. excellent post! and yes i have something thats been on the back burner for a year and a half after a “rejection”. and yes it seems god is nudging me. but at this very moment i havent held myself accountable to take the next small step to get “it” started. i do know what the next step is, but if i get that ball rolling again….perhaps i will get rejected again. it would not be so bad the second time though because my hopes are not as high now. just my thoughts. cindy
My oh my Sharon! This one was certainly for me! It’s amazing how God connects the dots for his children exactly at the rightplace and time. I am grateful and highly receptive to your posts and inspiring words. Keep reaching the hearts and souls of others, it truly is profound. Thank you! 🙂
This one for me! ALL IS WELL!
This one was for me!
This is a great story and it reminded me that we are to be over-comers. We are not to be discouraged, or done in on the first round. We are fighters, with a heavenly host to cover our backs. It’s easier I guess to wring your hands and say oh woe is me. After all you were ill, and doing all you did could have made you more ill. You could have gone home with your tail between your legs, & told everyone how sick you were, how badly used you were by the ship folk! Lots of people do that, they cry and whine. Not you girl, you grabbed the hope and ran with it full steam ahead. Hooray for you! I want to be on your team! Never give up, never say die. Romans 8:37 – we are more than conquerers!
All the best!
d
This one was for me for sure!!!! Thank you.
This one was for me. Thanks!
This one was for me! Today I have been wondering is Jesus really enough?? You have convinced me through my extreme doubt & uncertainty that He is!!! I will cling to Him,despite not knowing what lies ahead!!!
I think this is everyones dilemma at one time or another, mine as well.
WOW, this one was for me! NO MATTER the reason. Rejection hurts badly. We all have a choice. Just knowing we have the HOPE inside us and the wherewithal to CHOOSE Him and His plan and NOT GIVE UP! Amen and Amen. Thank you for taking the time to write this.
Thank you for sharing and encouraging. I can’t think of anyone who shouldn’t read this. I think of people who’s parents tell them they aren’t worthy~ of broken marriages and friends who feel unworthy of any love~ of the ones who’s hopes have falling because no one believes in them. God is all about perseverance and walking forward in His promises. Great words for moving forward in Him! Thank you~ Blessings
This was for me!
Wow! This one was for me!!
this one was for me. sometimes I think God just wants us to listen for directions, others He impresses upon us to go for it, and do whatever it takes because He is with us.
This one was for me! Thank you for pressing onward to let God use your obstacles, adventures and listening heart to speak to me and all these other commenters! This piece is of great and timely encouragement to me.
Thank you for sharing! This one was definitely for me! May God shine through all our experiences so others see it and do not miss the glory he has in store for all who love and follow him.
Indeed despite the trials and tribulations we face we can say what Paul said in Romans 8 v.35-39 “who shall separate us form the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress or persecution or farming or nakedness or peril or sword? […] No in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord”!
This post was for me, thank you.
This one was for me. Having a week of feeling overwhelmed and questioning my own abilities, skills and overall worth. Dealing with business struggles, elderly parent issues and financial turmoil for many years now and God is my strength. Thank you for speaking to my heart.
I can already identify with some of what you mums are going through……even though I’m just eighteen. Life has a way of sucking your enthusiasim away but in God we trust!!! Godbless you “Ma’s”
This one was for me! I want to study to be a nurse, but I struggle with hyperhidrosis…I’m praying for healing, taking natural remedies, and doing all I can to see my dream come true. God is so faithful! I know He has good things planned for me! Everyday, I just have to keep choosing to TRUST Him. Thank you so, so much for the encouragement! God bless you!!! 🙂
This one is definitely for me. I am so close to finishing my psychology degree and I just failed to classes due to stress. My husband and I am trying to start our own business and I have been turned down twice. I wanted to give up but that is not in me, but it is easier. I don’t like failure it really dampers my spirit. Three people have spoken encouraging words to me (us) and I received it. Your trials are also encouraging. Continue to use your life experiences as your testimonies, because they truly have helped me. Thank you woman of God!
This one’s for me! I’m sharing it with my family at dinner! I hope you publish this message to a wider audience. This one is for all those people staring at their ship and trying to decide what to do….
This was for me!
Thank you Lord!!!! You are an awesome God. This one is for me. I will press on in your name. Thank you for restoration. I am headed toward my ship by your grace.
This was definitely for me!! My situation is a little different but this still fit to a tee!! I have been planning to go to Uganda this October on a mission trip and to see the precious baby boy that I met there last year and now sponsor since May. God has opened several doors and provided the means for me to get there over the past few months in several ways. The calling on my heart has been undeniable! Then one of the worst things that could happen did happen. My nephew (my only niece or nephew) was born with major heart defects, had his first surgery at five days old and was scheduled to have his second surgery on Aug 13th. It will be a very risky surgery with the possibility of him not doing well if his heart can’t tolerate it, so I knew I wanted to be there for it. On August 10th I bought my plane tickets for Uganda feeling confident that his surgery would be done and would not be anywhere near my trip. Later that same day the called and cancelled his surgery. We found out this two days ago that his surgery is rescheduled for Oct 17th…three days before I am supposed to be back from Uganda! I was devastated! How could I choose between this trip and seeing this child I love as my own who lives half way around the world and my only nephew that I also love dearly? Yesterday I was lost. I felt like my heart was being ripped in two! I spent a lot of time in prayer and the Word last night and hoped today would bring clarity. I have still struggled today but then I started looking into possibly just cutting my trip short so I can be back the afternoon of the surgery. I have still felt very unsure of trying to pursue that route because it will have additional cost and more hurdles to get past, so I was still thinking maybe this was God’s way of closing the door on this trip. And then I read this!!! I immediately felt God telling me not to give up!! And so…I will press on! I’ll pay the extra money and go through the hurdles to get on my Ugandan “ship”!! Thank you so much for these words of encouragement!! I’ve never read your blog before and just sort of stumbled upon it but God obviously wanted me to read this!! Thanks!!
I’m so glad you “stumbled upon my blog” at this particular time. Don’t you love how God gives us just what we need when we need it? He’s crazy about you!
Yes!!! Thank you!!! He definitely led me to this page and spoke right to me through your words!! Thanks again!! This definitely won’t be my last time reading your stuff!!
This one was for me I am just sure of it. We have felt the call to go to South Africa as missionaries. We spent 2 and a half months there with our two boys preparing the way. We came back to raise support only to find it so very difficult. Some have become partners with God’s plan but not enough yet and …declined support – so painful – it is in a way a suggestion we are not fit – is it not? One pastor was came out of his office so excited to meet us: “Are they here yet?” You see our friends had spoken to him about us. Then he saw us and the disappointment on his face…it was heartbreaking. Two years since we came back to raise support. Two years ago we sold everything to go where God was sending us. Two years of waiting. Our partners waiting. Our beautiful new friends in South Africa waiting. Rejection? I have felt lately rejected even by God. Then I read your article…Thank you. I will not give up. I will press on. The stakes are so much higher than a cruise!
Oh friend: I am so glad that God used this story to encourage you to not give up. You are right. They stakes or your situation are so much higher than a cruise.
When we to to Athens (one of our destinations), I stood on Mars Hill where Paul preached and thought of all the times he hit a wall of rejection. Then I sat in the forum area in Ephesus and thought of how Paul was rejected and denied entrance. And yet, he never gave up. So, you see, what seemed like a complete debacle before we got on the ship, was in reality the perfect lesson for me to get a taste of what Paul had to go through. And perhaps what you’re having to go through right now.
This one IS for me. Thank you Sharon for your encouraging words.
this one is for me
Hello there. I signed up for these blogs recently and just got round to reading this one. It is so for me. I’ve definitely felt God nudging me to try again just this week. I feel like I’ve been going through a storm for such a long time, and when you’re weary it’s so hard to feel like you can dream again. But I heard God, and He wants me to dream. He doesn’t want me to settle for ‘surviving’, but to really live. So I choose to look over the obstacles to Him, and to step out of the boat again trusting Him to lead me. I surely must be in for an amazing journey. God bless and thank you for such an encouraging article.
this is for me.i will continue to head on,no giving up.