“Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

‭‭I Peter‬ ‭2‬:‭4‬-‭5‬ ‭NKJV

So here’s a little life update. Recently I submitted for a writing competition. That was what I was working on last month. I got the results at the end of April, and I was rejected. 

At first it hurt, and it was a pain I had to process. Hence the poem God put on my heart. I put so much effort in making sure that the submission was perfect. To find out that it wasn’t…well that felt personal. As if my effort wasn’t perfect, wasn’t enough. Was I really a writer? Should I keep trying to make it a career?

Then I read 1 Peter 2:4-5. God saying that Jesus, who was rejected, is precious. 

Just because something is rejected, that doesn’t define it. God created all things. He is Truth. He defines things. At least I should let Him define the things He created. Let Him show me how to heal from a wound instead of letting it fester and get infected with more pain and bitterness.

Plus, the most beautiful thing about God, is that His mercies are new every morning. So one morning there is a mercy of chance and submission. If it is rejected, by us or others, God sits with us. He holds us as we process and heal, as we keep doing good even in the night of our hurt. Then morning comes again, another new chance to experience His mercies and submit again.

Perseverance is hard and is a personal choice, just like it was for Jesus. 

Rejection hurts and is a personal pain but it does not have to be a personal definition.

Sitting in that hurt, being a rock in a place of dampness and pain, we will become our environment. With God He can move us, build upon us, and make us stronger no matter where we are. Because in Him, He is our environment. He is an environment of growth and life.

How do I know this? Well, there’s another competition this month. A new mercy and chance from God. Something He is still with me in. He is still my rock, and I Lear from my last submission. Doing more research this time around. In Him, I’m growing as a writer and His daughter. 

So, as I’ve had to choose, here’s your choice. Where will you set your rock? In the personal pain of rejection? Or in His continuous growth and mercy?