Friday, January 18, 2008

I Was Rejected



Yes, it's true. I was rejected yesterday. About 10 days ago I went through this whole process to submit a manuscript outline to a magazine, in order for it to be published. I heard back from the associate editor yesterday that they chose not to pursue my idea due to it not fitting their guidelines and preferences. I won't lie, I was bummed, but, I wasn't angry, riddled with feelings of rejection or sudden bouts of unworthiness - and for me, that’s progress. Immediately after I finished reading their response email, I stood up and began to talk to my heavenly Father.

You see, I knew what my flesh was prone to do, from countless past experiences. Thoughts of how dumb it was for me to even submit the article, frustration at where to go from here, anger regarding how they rejected an outline and didn’t request to read the full piece – all of these types of thoughts were easily and readily accessible. But what I chose to do was just the opposite. As I walked around my house, I told the Lord how thankful I was that I am accepted in His eyes. I declared with my mouth that I confidently know that God has given me a gift and ability to write. A truth that I, until recently, always wrote off as pride or self-promotion. The fact is however, that it’s not pride at all. It’s acknowledging what the Father has placed within me. I only have anything worth writing because He is teaching me – because He is speaking to me. Nothing of myself is worth sharing with anyone, it’s He who gets all of the glory, not me. It is He alone that I am promoting.

So after thirty minutes or so of reminding myself that God is in control of opening and closing all doors to opportunities in my life, I moved on. The article is fantastic, I am sure of it. It is absolute truth from God’s Word that He (in times alone with Him in study and prayer) and via the mouths of true Christian friends, has spoken to me. He has told me plainly that I’m here to redefine what Christianity is in a culture where the Gospel has become all about us and religion is nothing but formulas that don’t produce any good fruit. I am fully convinced that He will use me to get this message out and it will come in His time. It’s simply my responsibility to continue this journey. As I go I will stop and peer out through windows and see if I’m to go there. I will pause when He tells me to and pursue what He tells me to pursue – and then I will move on. My goal, my prize, is Him, not earthly “advancement”.

With that being said, I want to encourage you to keep your eyes set on Him. Let nothing, whether it be acceptance or rejection, distract you from keeping your eyes on the Lord. Our gaze must continue to be on Him alone. You are exactly who He created you to be and He loves you just the way you are. May we surrender our everything - good, bad or seemingly meaningless to Him – ALL, my friend is in His hands.

9 comments:

rave.n said...

Thank you for this post.

God does fill us with His Spirit to accomplish His deeds. And not just merely eek by but to do so with wonder.

His writings, as told thru you, are evidences of that.

"Then the Lord said to Moses, "See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts-to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of craftsmanship." - Exodus 31:1-5

Joel Spencer said...

Great stuff Raven!

May we all step back and realize that all who know Him have been "filled and skilled" - ooh, I like that. ;)

Anonymous said...

joel,

would you consider publishing the article online (perhaps PDF format for download or thru your blog as a series of articles)?

sounds just like the kind of thing i'd be interested in reading.
-erik

Joel Spencer said...

Erik: I surely could publish it online in another format, but that would really not be much different than it residing here within the blog. My goal is to reach an audience that would likely not end up here.

Ideally, I'd love to see some of "my stuff", since it doesn't always fit well into mainstream Christian media markets, be seen by those who really need to read it.

There is surely power in the unity of the likeminded, but I'd love for the Truth of the Word to make it into the hands of those with veiled eyes.

With that being said, thanks for the suggestion. At this point I'm open to pursuing just about anything to get the message out.

Anonymous said...

joel, thanks for the reply! not sure how long your manuscript is, but you can self-publish with amazon's booksurge program for dirt cheap.
-erik

Joel Spencer said...

Erik: This particular article that I'm referring to is only 1700 words or so, but thanks for the info!

Anonymous said...

I think God is up to something great in your life to use the God given gifts you have of writing and getting people to feel and experience God's heart and voice. I love reading all what you write and I am so blown away as I do. Praise God you see your value is in HIM...and HIM alone. He has a huge plan .....Just don't sit around and wait on your destiny. It continues to pursue you....
Billi

Anonymous said...

"Choose you this day Whom you will serve." In both the computer and manuscript times, you did just that. Keep it up..........
Kay

Joel Spencer said...

Thanks for the encouragement Billi and Kay. We've all got to continue pressing on, doing what we're called to do, no matter what the outcome.