Rejection - Getting Past the Past - 226

Have you ever felt the sting of rejection so deeply that it altered how you see yourself? This raw, powerful episode takes us on a journey from the pain of past rejection to the stability of an identity anchored in something unshakable.

Through a seemingly simple home repair story about a stubborn cable that wouldn't budge, we discover a profound truth about human identity. Just as that cable needed secure attachment to function properly, our sense of self requires anchoring to something permanent rather than hanging loose, vulnerable to every emotional breeze.

I was run over by a car at age 11, permanently altering my appearance and setting me on a path of self-consciousness, especially during the formative teenage years. This vulnerability led to painful experiences of rejection that revealed two core fears we all face: abandonment and loss of identity. When we build our worth on external validation—likes, comments, relationships, or achievements—we create an exhausting cycle of manipulation to protect our fragile self-image.

The path forward requires developing what we call an "intimacy-based identity" by wrestling honestly with three transformative questions: Is God good? Is God good to me? Do I trust God to be God? Through biblical insights and personal reflection, we learn how to shift our focus from circumstantial evidence to unchanging truth.

Most powerfully, we discover that while rejection remains possible in this broken world, God's love provides an unwavering foundation. "The most exquisite love story we can engage in is the one we were designed to experience with God." By daily affirming God's goodness and embracing our identity in Him, we can finally break free from the painful patterns of our past.

Join us for this second installment in our rejection mini-series, and discover how to replace the unstable cable of circumstantial identity with the unbreakable connection of being "holy and dearly beloved." Your journey toward healing begins now.