In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, “This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.” 2 Kings 20:1

You either grew up loving Malenge or because it was given to you alot as a child, you never ever want to see it in your plate for the rest of your life. As simple as it is, there are regions in this world where it is truly celebrated during its harvest time. Funny thing is, if in a conversation your name gets mentioned and you are described as Malenge, hehehe, you need to relook at life and redirect and align it more to God’s Purpose.

I come to us today, in the name of the Lord, being a person that suffered rejection in different quarters especially from people, you would never think that they would and hide in some camouflage, feelings that I don’t really belong or don’t fit in. Those defeat thoughts can easily creep into someone’s mind even when the Lord gives you a breakthrough or, better still, little joys happen in your life, but you live so bitter that even what God does in your life is subjected to a pessimistic, defeated mind that you never get to enjoy Life in its beauty.

There are seasons when the greatest battle is not what is happening around you, but what has happened inside you because of what happened around you.

Rejection can become a voice. Disappointment can become a lens. Failure can become an identity. Before long, you are no longer responding to what God is doing in your life, you are responding to what people did to you in the past.

The Scripture we quoted gives us a situation of this man, Hezekiah. He was set to die. The prophet Isaiah came to him with a message that appeared final: “Set your house in order; for you shall die, and not live.” There was no negotiation in the message. There was no indication that another chapter was coming. There was no warning that the story would suddenly change. Hezekiah was told to prepare for the end.

But Hezekiah did something that I believe we must learn from. He turned his face to the wall and prayed. He did not turn his face to the people who had rejected him. He did not turn his face to his circumstances. He did not turn his face to his diagnosis, his disappointment or his limitations. He turned his face to God. There are moments in life when you have to stop looking at what is happening around you and deliberately turn your attention back to the One who has the authority to change what you cannot change.

And before Isaiah had gone out into the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him again. God said, in essence, “I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. I will heal you.” What looked finished was not finished. What looked like the last word was not the last word. Hezekiah’s circumstances changed because God intervened.

This is important because sometimes we make permanent conclusions from temporary seasons. We experience one rejection and decide nobody will ever accept us. We experience one failed relationship and decide we will never love again. We lose one opportunity and decide we will never succeed. We make one mistake and allow it to become the definition of our entire life. We experience disappointment and begin expecting disappointment everywhere.

That is how a defeated mind is formed.

You can be blessed and still think like someone who is cursed. You can be surrounded by opportunities and still see only closed doors. You can receive a breakthrough and still be emotionally living in the season when you were rejected. You can walk into a new season carrying the old season on your back.

And that is where we need to be careful.

Because God may be doing something beautiful in your life, but bitterness can make you unable to recognize it. God may send people who genuinely love you, but rejection may convince you that they will eventually leave. God may open a door, but insecurity may tell you that you do not belong in the room. God may give you another opportunity, but failure may whisper that you are going to mess it up again.

You cannot fully enjoy a new season while constantly arguing with the old one.

And sometimes, we have become like that with ourselves. Someone described you as Malenge, and you believed them. Someone told you that you were not good enough, and you carried it. Someone rejected you, and instead of recognizing that they rejected you, you concluded that you were rejectable. Someone failed to see your value, and you started questioning whether you had any value at all.

But hear me clearly: another person’s inability to recognize your value does not cancel the value God placed in you.

You have to learn to separate rejection from identity.

They may have rejected the opportunity, but they did not create your purpose. They may have rejected the relationship, but they did not determine your worth. They may have rejected your contribution, your personality, your ideas, your leadership or your presence, but they are not the authors of your life. God is.

And if God is still writing, you cannot allow people who walked away from one chapter to convince you that there will be no next chapter.

Hezekiah’s story is a powerful reminder that God can change the trajectory of a life. The prophet had spoken. The circumstances were real. The situation was serious. But God was still God.

Sometimes God changes the situation immediately. Sometimes He changes us while we remain in the situation. Sometimes He opens another door. Sometimes He gives us strength to walk through the door that is already open. But whatever He does, we must learn to trust that His purpose for our lives is bigger than the opinion of people.

And perhaps that is the word for someone today: stop living as though your worst moment was your permanent address. You have survived too much to spend the rest of your life rehearsing what hurt you.

Yes, you were rejected. Yes, you were disappointed. Yes, some people treated you unfairly. Yes, there were moments when you questioned whether you belonged. But you are still here. And if you are still here, there is still purpose attached to your life.

Sometimes we ask God for another breakthrough when what we really need is a new perspective.

We ask God to change our circumstances, while God is trying to change the way we see ourselves. We ask Him to remove every difficult person, while He is teaching us that difficult people do not have the authority to determine our peace. We ask Him to give us more, while He is asking us to appreciate what is already in our hands.

Do not allow yesterday’s rejection to make you blind to today’s blessing.

Look again. There are blessings you are living in today that an older version of you would have considered a miracle. Enjoy them.

Do not be so accustomed to fighting that you forget how to celebrate. Do not become so familiar with disappointment that you become suspicious of joy. Do not allow bitterness to become so comfortable in your heart that you can no longer recognize God’s goodness.

Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, but he did not turn his heart away from God.

That distinction matters.

There are moments when you may have to withdraw, cry, think, pray and process what has happened. But do not withdraw from God. Take your pain to Him. Take your questions to Him. Take your disappointment to Him. Take the rejection to Him. Take the things you cannot explain to Him.

Because the same God who heard Hezekiah’s prayer is still able to hear yours.

And maybe your life needs another look.

But perhaps more importantly, it is a season to stop allowing the opinions of others to define what God has already established. It is a season to release bitterness, recover joy, rebuild your confidence and realign your life with God’s Purpose.