I've been here before and I don't like it. Rejection hurts. Recently, I spent three months interviewing for a position—three months of answering philosophical questions, submitting videos and recordings, meeting on conference calls, and finally making an on-site visit. When things didn't work out, I felt like the groom in a Julia Roberts movie. Left at the altar.

I needed a recovery plan.

My first reaction was to rant. Twenty years ago my wife would have told me to go into computers, but now even that option doesn't look so good. She held her tongue and listened. God bless her.

Next I went to a quiet place. I'm a worship pastor, so I turned to worship.

Worship is the first step in positively dealing with pain. Job did it right when he lost everything. "Job tore his robe and shaved his head." (Is that an ancient form of pity-rant?) "Then he fell to the ground in worship" (Job 1:20). Of course, Job voiced his complaint to God later in the story. But that's part of worship, too. Worship is more ...