One of the best rejections I’ve ever received is, “You’re piece made it to the penultimate round. Unfortunately, we will not be publishing it.”
Sadly, not all rejections offer a touch of encouragement, but I believe we can learn from them anyway. For instance, rejections teach us the humility to lean into our critique groupers’ suggestions, rewriting a rejected piece provides a lesson in perseverance, and praying for our writing helps us to rely on God’s plan.
For each lesson learned, we can lean into God’s plan with an attitude that marks us as writers who follow God. Yes, when someone declines our precious words, we feel the sting. Nevertheless, every turned-down piece helps us to grow both as writers and as God’s people.