An Introvert’s Nightmare: Going Where I Wasn’t Chosen

We have to get used to rejection. But I want to take it a step further: we have to get used to embracing it, even when we do not understand why it happened.

I want to narrow in on the rejection we experience when chasing our callings, our work, and our performance. While I am no stranger to the pain of rejection in relationships, I want to equip us specifically to endure when a “no” steps into the space of our gifts and our handiwork.

This Friday, I am doing something very uncomfortable. As an introvert, the idea of going somewhere alone that is crowded and full of strangers is already a stretch. But there is a second layer: the event I am attending is the very fashion show I was not chosen to be a designer in.

They were kind enough to give me a free ticket, but let’s be honest: how many of us actually want to show up to the party we were “rejected” from?

But… I know it is going to be worth it. Not only will I be in a room full of creatives where I can network, but I am certain every person in that room has a story of rejection too. Why not show up and be the light? Why not rep Jesus? The hesitation and insecurity I am feeling is exactly what motivated me to write this. We have to talk about how to embrace the sting.

Jesus didn’t just “deal” with rejection. He expected it. He used it as the platform for His mission.

• He met with those who failed Him. After His resurrection, He took time to meet intimately with the friends and brothers who had rejected or abandoned Him when He went to the cross. (John 20 & 21; Matthew 28; 1 Corinthians 15:7)
• He went where He wasn’t wanted. He traveled to His hometown to teach, even though He knew they would reject His works and His message. (Luke 4:24; 28-30)
• He stood by the truth. Jesus stuck to hard teachings even when He knew it would cause many of His disciples to leave Him. (John 6:66-67)
• He responded with mercy. Jesus understood that the scholars and Pharisees (the people with the most knowledge) would be the ones to accuse Him. Yet, He still interacted with them in mercy. (Matthew 21:42)

Peter is the best imperfect person to teach us this. He rejected Jesus three times, yet he was restored to become the rock of the church. If anyone understood the redemption found on the other side of a “no,” it was him.

In 1 Peter 2:20-21, Peter flips the script on how we view rejection:

“For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.”

As a fashion designer who was rejected (who humbly knows how minor this rejection is in comparison to the cross), perhaps because my work was modest and didn’t fit a sexualized theme, Peter would call that “a gracious thing.” I am following in the exact steps of Jesus. I am choosing to be “in the world but not of it.” I am taking the opportunity to network with the intention of planting a seed.

How can you embrace your current rejection? That sting is tempting you to doubt the gifts the Lord has placed inside of you. You might feel like your work isn’t good enough, but what if the “no” was actually a “yes” to a different kind of glorifying moment?

Maybe the way to honor Him right now is by embracing that disappointing “failure” and using it for Him. Don’t hide. Show up, wear the design anyway, and remember who you are actually working for.

Love always, Cass