Life will knock us down… multiple times and in many different ways.  The best way to get through it is to just stand up, shake off the dust and press on, but it’s not always easy.

At first it’s easier to just stay on the ground where you are.  You might get upset and cry or you might be the type of person that gets angry and punches or kicks a wall.  Once you finally pull yourself back up it’s not long before you’re knocked down again and this time you have a little more resilience, but not much.  Soon you might find yourself getting frustrated and ready to give up.  That’s the easier thing to do, right?

But some of us are able to pull ourselves back up each and every time.  I’m not saying it’s easy to do – it takes effort to keep at it when you’re knocked down constantly.

Life will knock us down in a lot of ways – sicknesses, deaths, loss of relationships with others, rejection… the list goes on.

Personally, I’m dealing with rejection in the employment field.

It’s easy for my first thought to be ‘why did I even bother getting this degree if no one will hire me?’ each time I’ve been rejected.  That thought will usually sit there until I’m in tears and thinking that I just wasted five and a half years of my life and a lot of money getting that education.  The thought becomes more personal when I see my former classmates getting the same positions I’ve been applying for at different companies, like I’m the one who’s not good enough for these jobs even though I have the same education as them.

As the months after graduation have gone by, I’ve seen a good share of rejection.  Some of it I know is because of the distance and availability situations, which don’t bother me as much (at least I know I would’ve gotten the job had circumstances been different).  I’m happy to say I’ve gotten better at handling the rejection situations during the start of this new year.

This past week brought on a double rejection for two different positions at the same company that I know I had enough experience for and felt confident that I’d be hired to one of them.  After the rejection, my thoughts started in the direction of ‘why did I bother…?’ ( you know, that sob story), but then I stopped myself.  Another thought came to my head, and it was much more comforting than the first one.

‘That’s obviously not where God wants you right now.  He’s got something out there that’s perfect for you… and in His time.’

Only a few minutes after getting rejected from a company I’d love to work for, I was already okay with it.  If it was meant for me to be there, God would’ve allowed it.  Just like He would’ve allowed me to get any of the other number of jobs I’ve applied for in the past year – if He had wanted me there.  Obviously that wasn’t His plan, and I’m okay with it now.

It’s relieving to know that I can rely on God’s plan for my life to unfold, as long as I’m doing my part in obeying Him and at least trying by applying to these jobs.  Why I’m not getting anything yet, I don’t know.  It could be that the right one hasn’t opened up yet or maybe I’m not in the right place (as in town/state) for God to open up that door.

So yeah, rejection is hard, but it’s a lot easier to get over knowing that the Lord has a plan for me.