I loved playing softball, but I hated the way we chose our teams. On the neighborhood sandlot the two biggest guys and best players would be the captains and would each take a turn chose a player from the group of neighborhood kids wanting to play. To be among the first ones chosen was a real honor, but to be among the last ones was devastating. It was obvious that the captains would have preferred that those little newcomers to softball not be on their team at all. The sense of rejection was intense and the newcomers soon learned to choose to be spectators of the sport.

Later in life I found I could empathize with Leah in Genesis 27 as Jacob, his eyes bulging with horror cries out, “Oh no! It’s you! I have been tricked! Jacob had worked seven years to gain the right to marry Rachel, but uncle Laban deceived him and Leah had become the unwelcome player on the team of Jacob’s life. From this traumatic chapter in Jacob’s life we learn lessons on how to face fear, disappointment, and rejection.

Listen to "How to Face Fear, Disappointment, and Rejection"