A Crown In Place Of Rejection

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You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord’s hand . . . . 

No more will anyone call you Rejected . . . . 

you’ll be called My Delight!

(Isaiah 62:3-4)

These words have been speaking to my heart all week. At first, it was the word crown that caught my attention. I love crowns and have been collecting them for years. They’re displayed around my house as a daily reminder of my truest identity. I am a daughter of the King. And so are you.

But then there’s the word rejected. Contrasted by the word delight. Do I believe it? Do I believe that I am His delight? Or do I more often believe I am rejected?

We come to believe all kinds of things about ourselves though our story…the things that happen to us, the things that are spoken over us, the things we choose or don’t choose in life. Some of the things we come to believe about ourselves are good and true. Other things…not so true. In fact, we can believe all kinds of lies about ourselves without even knowing it.

Lies enter our stories through places of wounding, and one of the deepest core wounds of anyone’s story is rejection. It seems that we’re either experiencing it or fearing it at any given time. No matter how hard we try, we can’t prevent it. Whether it comes to you in the womb, early childhood, college or career…through friendships, family, romantic interests, church or community, it will come.

Even Jesus knew rejection. He was hated and rejected to death. Literally. But he didn’t let the rejection or even the pain of it define him. Rejection was his experience, but it wasn’t his identity. And that makes all the difference. What we believe determines how we live. “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 27:3). A huge part of our belief system is rooted in identity. Our wounds tell us one thing, but God tells us another. Which will we choose to believe?

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When our wounds tell us we are rejected, and we choose to live out of that identity, we go into deep hiding from God, others and even ourselves. We hide what our wounds have told us are our “rejectable” parts and present only the parts of ourselves that we think can be loved and accepted. {Read Hiding From Love if you want to dig deeper into the discovery and healing of your hiding patterns.}

But even our “acceptable” parts aren’t enough to keep us from experiencing further rejection. And over time, despite all of our performing and preventing, our core identity takes a hit. To the point that we begin to lose and even hate ourselves. And because self-hatred likes to stay hidden, you may not even realize it’s there. Over time, self-hatred and self-contempt form like callouses around the rejection wound, and our hearts harden to the truth of who we are.

But in God’s story, rejected isn’t your identity. As true as the lies can feel at times, the enemy’s rejection arrows don’t stand a chance against the truth and love of God! In Christ, your identity is fully established: a daughter of the King is accepted, chosen, wanted and worthy of love and delight. 

Oh, Bravehearted Beauties, will you dare to believe that you are a delight today? When those rejection arrows fly, will you dare to see yourself as He sees you…a stunning crown in the hand of God?

Delighted in by the King,