Rejection Can Kill Your Purpose

One of the most difficult private sicknesses to deal with is the spirit of rejection. To begin, let's make some clarifications. Each of us deals with rejection on a weekly basis, if not a daily basis. You might be a day late and a dollar short at every turn of your daily routine, but it doesn't necessarily lead to a spirit of rejection. The spirit of rejection usually comes very early in life and gets rooted deeper and deeper each time somebody hurts you, leaves you, falls out of love with you, breaks your confidence, makes you feel taken advantage of, etc. As a minister and coach, I can usually tell that this is the spirit that I am dealing with in an individual, because typically, that individual feels that they are the only person that people use and abuse. People who suffer from the spirit of rejection also use the term "always" when they describe the pattern of their life-long mishaps. To hear them tell it, no one else in the world ever suffers from disappointments and let-downs at the hands of other people. If this is you, believe me when I say that the spirit of rejection is a deadly disease of the mind and the soul. Unless you treat it and deal with it aggressively, it will give you twisted, fatalistic thinking that will lead to the death of your own purpose.

Safe in God's Hands

Yesterday morning at church, a sister led "I'm Safe In God's Hands," during morning worship, and I tell you, my Bishop very nearly had to call for the benediction when she was done. What a great source of comfort to know that no matter how the wind blows or the water threatens to take me under...I am safe in the arms of my Lord. You know today, as you continue your journey seeking to know what God's plan and purpose is for your life, you should rest assured that you are safe from all harm. When I consider that danger is always around me - seen and unseen - and that I can't even see what is a foot in front of me - I'm still safe. The Word of God says that even if my foot stumbles, God's angels will grab me to keep me from being destroyed. Look up and allow God to fill your heart to overflow with his goodness and graciousness. The Psalmist said on one occasion, "When I go to sleep at night, he is with me...and when I awake, he is yet there."

5 Steps to Starting All Over Again

It's tough to start all over again, especially when you consider the fact that starting all over again means starting from the bottom of your new top. This is possibly why the Word says "the end of a thing is better than the beginning." But I am reminded of the law of progression which states that every new step requires a new start. If you can keep the following five steps in mind when you are faced with the challenge of having to start all over again, you will be able to anchor your emotions to having to relearn some things you thought you knew, debunk some things you found were not true, retry some things that you once failed at, and rediscover some things that have become passe. Here goes:

• The Word of God says "write the vision and make it plain." What this first step involves is writing down a specific set of goals that will keep you focused and anchored during your transition phase.
• Second, once you write down the vision, jot down - in bullet format - every step or factor you need to consider in making those goals a reality. In other words, fill in the blanks to your master plan or vision. You know where you want to go - what details do you need to attend to in order to get there? What do you need to take along for the journey? Don't think in terms of deficit, think plenty at this point.
  
• Now, that you have your vision and a list of very particular items that need to be considered in getting to your vision, prioritize the steps you listed in bullet format. What needs to be done first? What can be done next? How about after that? Now reorder your list based on the prioritizing you just did.
• Fourth, consider what you will need to sacrifice in order to re-start. If you jot these losses down, check in with your heart to consider how it will feel to lose something in the process of gaining something, and are willing to keep the faith no matter what it costs you, you will have prepared your heart well for any difficulties that must lie ahead.
• Finally, decide when and where you will take that first step to restart. Do it now, do it quickly, do it with conviction, and do it without reservation. Once you make that first move, you will be surprised at how free you will feel in taking your second step. Just be sure to take that second step soon after the first.

Be sure to celebrate as you begin your new journey, cry the necessary tears, remind yourself of the lessons you have learned in your past failures - not to condemn yourself, but to grow from them, and whatever you do, don't keep looking in the rear view mirror while you're moving upward and ahead.