Reviving Burned Stones is the title to one of my ebooks, and chapter two in Victorious Garden: true heart forgiveness. Both are on Amazon. What does our pathway look like after we have been rejected? How do we process the pain? Our flesh wants to lash out, but our spirit man wants to lean hard on the Lord. Galatians 5:16 is a key verse to the aftermath of rejection. It says, “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”

Here was a strategic maneuver that we can adapt for ourselves. Rejection is not a one time event. We need to have a purpose set in our heart for the next time we suffer rejection. Nehemiah 4:6 was after they cried out to the Lord to avenge them. It says, “So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up  to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.” The children of Israel did not let the rejection stop them from the work the Lord had called them to do.

Verse 7 says that the enemy was furious because, “…the walls of Jerusalem were being restored and the gaps were beginning to be closed…” Let me take you to Isaiah 7. It reveals the enemy’s strategy. Verse 6 says, “Let us go up against Judah and trouble it, and let us make a gap in the wall for ourselves…” It is essential to understand that when we are rejected, it is satan’s plan to bring division. He hates close knit relationships. He seeks to divide so he can conquer through his lies.

Let me illustrate from Israel’s time. The vineyards were hedged about with a protective wall. It might have been shrubbery, or a rock wall. They set a watch to make sure that nothing would create a little gap. Something bigger would come and make that gap bigger. Song of Solomon 2:15 says, “Catch us the little foxes…” Why? They would race through the vineyard and knock off the blossoms so that there would be no fruit.

Gaps remain in our relationships through heart unforgiveness. Let us apply Paul’s admonition to the church at Rome. Romans 12:2 in the J. B. Phillips says, “Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all His demands and move towards the goal of true maturity.”

What is the world’s way? Revenge! The enemy unleashed revenge in our country with the riots, the burnings, and the hatred. Our hearts get burned through rejection. That isn’t the end of the story. At that moment we have a choice. We can lash out in our flesh, or we can forgive and move forward. If we let the offense build in our heart, we will become like the vineyard in Proverbs 24:30-34. It was full of nettles and thorns because the wall was diligently attended to.

Hebrews 12:2 says, “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” It is at that throne that we are bid to come in our time of need. It is there that we will find the mercy and grace to forgive from our heart. 

How did the Lord respond when He was reviled during His walk on this earth? Revile means to berate, rail against, or criticize in an angry way. 1 Peter 2:24 says, “Who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously.” We react in our flesh, but we respond in our heart to the Holy Spirit’s readiness to lead us through the situation into victory!