The Gift of Divine Rejection

Excerpt from my journal — Thursday, July 24, 2025

Today at camp, our morning session spoke to me tremendously. Last night’s preaching experienced a divine interruption and was finished this morning. The three points that stood out were: we need to be redeemed, we need to be released, and we need to be ruled.

I call it a divine interruption because, mid-preaching on the first night, God began to deliver our young people from everything that was holding them in bondage. I witnessed this firsthand. When the invitation was given to be prayed for—specifically for those struggling with fear and anxiety, I stood up. I was afraid. I was trembling. I couldn’t believe I had made the decision to admit, again, that this was still something I was facing. But that prayer turned into a night of deliverance, not just for me, but for so many others.

By the grace of God, young people were set free from anxiety, fear, depression, suicidal thoughts, addiction, substance abuse, trauma, pornography—He met with us personally, powerfully.

This morning, Pastor finished the message, and I was so impacted by what he said: It’s not enough to be redeemed and released; we need to be ruled. We need to take every plan and every dream to the feet of Jesus and be willing to hear Him say no.

I thought back to how many times the Lord has said no to me just in the last two years. No to schools. No to majors. No to relationships. No to friendships. No to jobs. No to ministries. No after no after no.

As I prayed, I felt the Holy Spirit allow me to remember the rejection I felt in those moments. But then I began to see every time He revealed why He had said no. That rejection was actually a divine interruption for divine protection. Hello!

I was in tears. Because I finally understood the danger I would’ve been in if I hadn’t been met with His divine "no."

If I hadn’t experienced that rejection, I would’ve missed out on the opportunities I have today. The Lord has given me a seat at tables where I’ve been the youngest and least experienced. He’s placed me in rooms where I was the most unqualified in terms of education and résumé. Yet the Lord gave me a voice, and people with more experience and credentials have cared about what I had to say. All of that is the result of a divine no.

And then I realized something that may sound funny: how worthless I am without Him. I mean it. I am nothing without Jesus. Everything I have, everything I’ll ever achieve or accomplish, is only by His grace. He’s given me a favor before others. He’s allowed me to catch glimpses of His imagination and inspiration to figure things out. Everything I am and everything I do is meaningless without Him. There’s no point without Jesus.

And that’s the question I’ve been wrestling with: Am I willing to let God come and wreck my plans? Am I willing to sit in the pain of that wreckage?

During the altar call, they began singing “Nothing Else” and “The Heart of Worship.” The lyrics that stood out to me were:

"I just want You Nothing else, nothing else Nothing else will do I just want You Nothing else, nothing else, Jesus Nothing else will do"

and

"I’m coming back to the heart of worship And it’s all about You It’s all about You, Jesus I’m sorry, Lord, for the thing I’ve made it When it’s all about You It’s all about You, Jesus"

I pray that I learn to loosen my grip on the future, that I learn to trust Him better. To trust His redirection. To welcome interruptions from the Holy Spirit. To believe that I’m being protected, because everything He does is intentional. He’s about the details. He’s in all of them. There is such a childlike wonder that can come from trusting Him and waiting for His plan to unravel.

Jesus, show us the sweetness that can come in the gift of Your divine rejection.