I’ve been interviewing for a day job for months now. I want the day job for which I’ve sacrificed and gotten my degree. I know that job is out there. It just hasn’t found me yet.
I was asked recently in a job interview what two most important lessons I’d learned in the past year.
My answers: Humility and Perseverance.
I was a student teacher and a long-term substitute teacher last year. By humbling myself and submitting myself to learning from others, I reached my goal of obtaining my teaching license in special education and elementary education.
In the process, I was rejected from time to time — by other teachers, administrators, what have you. Anywhere you work, you’ll experience rejection. News flash: not everyone is going to like you.
Writers get rejected a lot, too. And as a writer, I’m a little thin-skinned. Writers must be emotionally vulnerable to have insight into the human condition.
Rejection is painful, but for highly sensitive people such as myself, it’s brutal.
Another reason rejection is difficult for me is because I struggle with not internalizing it and letting it label me. As a child who was rejected in the womb, left at the hospital by her mother (for whatever reasons, good or bad), rejection is the ugly thorn the enemy uses the most to torment me. He pokes at my insecurities and whispers:
“You’re never good enough.”
“You’ll never measure up.”
“You’ll never get a teaching job. You’re too old. Washed up. You have no future. Give up, already. Crawl in a hole and just die, why don’t you? No one gives a flip about you or what you have to say.”
“You’re not worthy.”
“Who do you think you are?”
I have two choices when these demons do a jig on my self-worth . I can listen to them, wallow in self-pity and consume copious amounts of chocolate, or I can stand up to their bullying.
Who do I think I am?
I am the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Cor. 5:21). If God is for me, who can be against me (Romans 8:31)? If God favors me, what does it matter what others think (Psalm 5:12)? I am not what others think I am. I am what God says I am.
God formed me with His hands and breathed in my nostrils the breath of life (Genesis 2:7). I am created in HIS image (Genesis 1:27). Before I was formed, He knew me and knit me together in my mother’s womb (Psalm 139: 13 & 16). He knows the number of hairs on my head and before I say a word? He knows what I’m going to say (Matthew 10:30, Psalm 139:4).
I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14)!
I am worth more than many sparrows (Matthew 10:31) and have been crowned with glory (Psalm 8:5; Genesis 1:26).
Cool! I love tiaras! Crowns = princesses. I’m a princess in training. Take that, ugly demon of rejection. You’re messing with royalty here.
God loves me so much that nothing can snatch me out of His hand (John 10:29) and He will never leave nor forsake me (Hebrews 13:5).
Yes, it’s been a humbling twelve months. But I’ve also learned how strong I am. I’m stronger than anyone ever imagined, including myself. Not because I’m spectacular, but because I know where my help comes from.
I don’t live by my own power or understanding. I’ve learned this past year that I have tons of plans, but it’s God’s purpose that prevails (Zechariah 4:6; Proverbs 3:5). It’s not my might, but His Spirit that gets me through the day and guides and empowers me (John 16:7, 13; Acts 1:8, Galatians 5:16).
Rejection is painful but it won’t kill me because I won’t let it. I know I’m strong because I keep getting back up and trying again. I have always believed it isn’t the most talented that persevere and succeed but the most determined.
My crown might be a little crooked. There are a few gems missing, and there are a few scratches that need rubbing out. Even when I fall, it manages to stay on my head. It gets bumped and bent but that doesn’t mean I’m any less of a king’s kid.
I’m not what negative thoughts and spirits say I am.
I am what God says I am.
A child of the king.
You are, too, if you follow King Jesus. Never, ever forget it.
What are the two most important lessons you’ve learned so far in 2017? Weigh in!
Princess in Training first appeared on KarlaAkins.com.
Comments 4
Wonderful post and reminder of who we are through Christ.
Author
Ann, I need to remind myself everyday! Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. Means a lot! 🙂
Awesome word..loved it
Author
Thanks for reading, Jan! It’s so nice to see you here. 🙂