William Parham, a former Methodist minister is recognized by 20^th century Pentecostals as the father of the “classical Pentecostal doctrine.” Unfortunately, his teachings did not gain wide acceptance, initially. In 1905, he moved his headquarters to Houston, Texas and founded “The Bible Training School.” That was where he met and taught William J. Seymour, a black evangelist from Louisiana.

Seymour embraced Parham’s Pentecostal teaching. In the winter of 1906, Seymour was recruited to be the pastor of a storefront church in Los Angeles, California. He accepted the offer and journeyed by train to assume his new pastorate. Seymour preached just a few sermons before he found himself locked out by his congregation. His members were not ready to accept his doctrine of Spirit baptism. He was rejected.

Homeless and jobless, Seymour was given a temporary shelter, and he dedicated himself to a time of intense prayer. Later on a family invited him to stay in their home. They also persuaded him to hold services in their abode. His messages were received so much so that he drew a large crowd to his services. They had to secure a new building to accommodate the onslaught of people who were coming to the services.

The building acquired was a former church building on 312 Azusa Street. The church was called the Apostolic Faith Mission, and they began their services in April, with Seymour as their pastor. In case the name of the street on which the church was located did not give you a hint, William J. Seymour was the catalyst behind the Azusa Street Revival. And rejection was the vehicle that navigated him to this accomplishment.

Seymour was rejected by a storefront church, and the rejection “re-ejected” him to be the pioneer of a 3 year revival characterized by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and a global Pentecostal movement whose impact is still resonating today. But how was Seymour able to get to this point? He was rejected.

People might hold you back from doing something, but God uses their hindrance to release you to fulfill His purpose for your life. The enemy will try to use rejection to set you back, but God uses it to set you free. Every time you hear people talk about the Azusa street revival, remember that the means through which that movement exploded, and the vehicle which ignited the man behind the explosion, is rejection (David W. Dorries, Spirit-Filled Christology (San Diego: Aventine Press, 2006), 260-263). 

For two and a half years, Margaux Sky overworked herself at her Art Café and Bakery restaurant. She did all the cooking, filled all the orders, and did all the cleaning. Yet, she could barely make ends meet. Despite her good cooking and hard work, it seemed like her work was in vain. It wasn’t surprising that she decided to call it quits by selling her café.

On the day she planned to work for the last time, her sister, Mary, ordered some takeout lunch. Mary ordered the lunch for her husband, Tim, who was providing lunch for his boss. Margaux made what she thought were her last batch of curried chicken sandwiches, and added some salad and homemade chocolate fudge cake to the mix. She handed the takeout lunch to her sister, to give to her husband for the lunch meeting he had with his boss.

Later that night, Tim called Margaux to let her know that his boss barely took the first bite of her curried chicken sandwich before she fell in love with it. Tim had told his boss that she should enjoy the sandwich while she could because Margaux, his sister-in-law, would be closing shop the next day. On her way home, Tim’s boss couldn’t get her mind off the palatable sandwich and Margaux.

On the next day, at about 8am in the morning, just one hour before Margaux handed over the reins of her restaurant to a new owner, Margaux got a phone call. It was from her brother-in-law, Tim. He said that his boss was sending her a big check to hire help and stay open for business. Tim had received an email from his boss the night before. His boss told him that, “Anybody this good shouldn’t go out of business.” Tim’s boss was Oprah Winfrey.

Likewise, you might be like Margaux, before her big break. You might be faithful with what you have, maintaining the integrity and excellence of who you are, and diligent at what you do. Yet, it seems like no one notices you. It appears that no one is vying for your affection, soliciting your business, acknowledging your work, or appreciating your efforts. Make no mistake about it; God sees you. God appreciates you. And God will blow your mind.

He is not unjust to see your work and labor of love that you have shown toward Him. Keep being your best. Keep maintaining your integrity. Keep the diligence in your work. No one as good as you are, in your character and your work ethic, should go out of business…so to speak. Not having people fall over themselves to seek you out for your affection or your expertise is just God’s way of preserving you for the right person or investor.

Proverbs 22:29 says that a person who excels and is diligent in their work will not stand before unknown people. Hence the reason why some haven’t valued who you are, what you have, and what you do. The proverb goes on to say that such an individual would stand before kings or people of influence. There is someone of great influence looking for you. Someone who will be captivated by your gift, expertise, virtue or integrity. Someone who would invest in your work or your heart.

If you are a virtuous woman, you might not get a check in the mail, but you will be checked out by a male…the right man for you. If you are a man of valor, your gift will make room for you, either in the establishment of someone of prominence, or in the heart of the right woman for you. Keep being your best. God sees your work. He will reward you publicly for what you’ve been doing privately.

You might be familiar with King Saul’s attacks against David. Saul was so intent on killing David that his attempts against David’s life caused David to seek asylum among the Philistines (1 Sam 27:1-2). David found favor with Achish, one of the Philistine commanders, and with Achish’s permission was able stay in an area of Philistine territory called Ziklag (1 Sam 27:6). The Philistines were gearing up to fight the Israelites and Achish invited David and his men to fight with them. David obliged (1 Sam 28:1-2). However, the other commanders of the Philistine army did not approve of David fighting with them. They feared that he would be a traitor, jeopardize their mission, and hand them over to the Israelites. So they rejected David from fighting with them (1 Sam 29).

David was disappointed but had no choice but to go back with his men to Ziklag. When they got back to Ziklag they found out that their homes had been raided and their families had been taken captive. David’s men were so distraught about the situation that they even considered stoning David. Despite the setback David encouraged himself and sought God. God gave him the green light to go after their families’ captors. David and his men went after them, caught up with them, defeated them, rescued their families and not only got back what was taken from his people, but also returned with their enemy’s possessions (1 Sam 30).

If we examine that story carefully we can learn some vital lessons about how God uses rejection to protect us. It was sad that David chose to live with the Philistines because of Saul’s attacks against him. Because of Saul’s rejection, not only did David choose to live with the enemy of his people, he was also willing to fight with the enemy against his people. The rejection he experienced from Saul caused him to make the enemy of his people his friend, and make his friend, his people, his enemy.

Unfortunately, that is sometimes the case with some people. Because of the rejection they experienced with the Sauls of their church, they’ve chosen to live their lives apart from God and befriended the Achish’s who are against God. Not only do some individuals who have succumbed to the bitterness of rejection left the Church to align with some who are against the Church, some have also chosen to fight against the church and its values. Interestingly, David was rejected from fighting with the Philistines. Other leaders of the Philistines who pulled more rank than Achish rejected David from fighting with them.

Despite David’s disappointment, the rejection enabled him and his men to get back to Ziklag on time to find out that their homes had been raided and their families had been captured. Had David not been rejected, he would have fought and killed his own people, and be way out of God’s will. He would have lost his family and his possessions, as it was likely that the people who captured them would have been long gone by the time they came back from war. He would have also lost the loyalty of his men, who would have probably killed him once they got back to find out that their families were gone and never to be recovered.

But because David was rejected, he was kept in God’s will by not fighting against His own people. He was kept in good standing with his men despite their brief but understandable anger against him. He was driven to seek God for direction, which helped them rescue their families, recover their possessions, and plunder their assailants. God gave them double for their trouble. Those were the purposes for which David was rejected. God does the same for us.

I acknowledge that sometimes we experience rejection from people of influence and leaders; whether in church, at home, at work, or in society. I also acknowledge that such attacks causes some of us to be offended so much so that we lose our faith, and begin not only to live apart from God, but live and hang out with the wrong crowd. If you are dealing with this predicament I want to encourage you not to respond that way. Even if you have, God can still get you back on track. Don’t be surprised if He uses the people that you’re not supposed to be hanging out with to accomplish this objective.

Just like God used rejection to protect, redirect and provide for David, God uses rejection for your protection, redirection and provision. He uses it to get you from fighting the wrong war to fighting the right war; the war for your faith, your family and His favor on your life. Even though the devil, the enemy, may have used the rejection of a friend, a leader, or a significant other to turn you away from God, God can use the rejection of an enemy, someone who is against God, to turn you back to Him and His purpose for your life.

All Sheilah Vance wanted to do was get her books published. But after numerous rejections from about 10 publishers and 25 literary agents, she decided to self-publish her own books. Considering the rebuff she received from publishers and agents, it is surprising that her first book, Chasing the 400 didn’t mean chasing the 400 publishers. And her second book Land Mines, referred to going through the land mines of divorce, and not the land mines of getting one’s book published.

All she wanted to do was become an author. But thanks to rejection, not only did she become an author she also became a publisher of authors. The rejection she experienced in the publishing industry inspired her to publish others who she knew had something helpful and relevant to say, but had been rebuffed too. She named her publishing company The Elevator Group. And the mission of her company is to help people rise above. Rejection promoted Sheilah Vance from author to publisher.

Usually when she receives a manuscript, because she is very busy and does not want to keep the manuscript’s author waiting for her response, she passes the manuscript to one of her employees for review. That person then determines if the work is something that Vance should look at. However, one day in October of 2009, something different happened.

Vance received a sample of a manuscript that was sent to her about a week earlier. The title of the work piqued her interest so much so that she did not pass it to someone else to review, but decided to read it herself. She fell in love with the manuscript because it encouraged and touched her heart. She wasted no time in replying to the author of the manuscript expressing her interest to publish his work.

The author agreed to her terms, a deal was struck, and his book is going to be published on September 1, 2010. The title of the book is Rejected for a Purpose: How God Uses Rejection to Help You Find and Fulfill Your Destiny. The author of the book is O. J. Toks. That’s how Sheilah Vance got my manuscript. But there’s a bit more to the story.

I had been working on Rejected for a Purpose for about 5 years. Within that time period my manuscript was overlooked by about 26 publishers and 66 literary agents. Using the grace and insight that God gave me in writing the book, I realized that those publishers and agents weren’t the ones appointed to publish the work. I believed that I was soon going to find the right publisher. It happened toward the end of October after I sent part of my manuscript to The Elevator Group.

Because of the rejections I experienced in trying to publish Rejected for a Purpose, I stopped soliciting publishers and agents for a long while between 2008 and 2009. Around the middle of August 2009 my contract was not renewed for a company I worked for. That meant I was out of a job. It also meant I was rejected…again. Immediately I felt that I had to use the time I was out of work, wisely. I was inspired to start seeking agents and publishers again, as new publishing professionals were always emerging. That was how I came across The Elevator Group. On September 1, 2010, the rest will be history in the making.

5 weeks after my previous employer bid me good riddance, they called me back for a special project. So, in retrospect I was rejected for the purpose of completing and sending Rejected for a Purpose to Sheilah Vance. I conclude that the temporary unemployment I experienced was time off for me to look for publishers and agents again. It paid off.

That is pretty much how God uses rejection for us. He uses it not only to help us fulfill our purpose, but help us fulfill it at the right time, and with the right person. Who would have thought that one of the elevators that God uses to help us rise above would be called rejection?