Time For An Identity Check

 “Thank you for letting me review your query. Unfortunately,…” I didn’t need to read the rest of the rejection email to know the agency did not have enough faith in my book (in me) to offer representation. Add this to a long list of other no-thank-you’s, like, thanks for trying out for Varsity cheerleading but, no thank you. Or, thanks for applying for this job, and you were the runner-up, but, no thank you. I’m sure you have your own list of “thank you, but, unfortunatelys.”

The reality is, whether you’re a cheerleader, an actor, or an everyday, normal person, you’re going to face rejection. It’s a part of life—a big part of life for authors. So the question isn’t, why was I rejected, but rather how am I going to handle the inevitable rejection?

This rejection letter was almost two years ago, and since then I’ve had other rejections in life. Recently, in fact, I went through a time when I sensed rejection actually laughing at me, shooting its taunting arrows from all directions, causing me to question my identity.

During this time of self-pity and self-doubt, God revealed something very clearly to me. Every area in which I doubted my abilities, as an author, a teacher, a wife, and a parent, I had depended on those roles to define me, to act as my identity. And as each one seemed to be stripped from me on some level, I felt left with nothing. I was a shell of a being, wandering through the days wondering who I was. That’s when I saw it. My identity was not in my jobs or in how well I did them. My true identity needed to be found in God. I was, I am, the daughter of a King. I am loved with an everlasting love. My God rejoices over me. He doesn’t just rejoice over me when my email list hits a thousand followers, or when my children actually do something I asked them to do. No, He rejoices over me all the time because I am His beloved.  

If you’ve felt rejection laughing at you too, dragging you down into a place of self-doubt, telling you that your writing isn’t good enough, or you’ll never get a good grade, or you won’t ever find a best friend, then lift your head up and look up to the One who created you. Remember who you are, and your identity can only be found in Him. Once you do that, He will bring about to pass the great plans He has designed for you to do!

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