A few weeks ago, I saw something really exciting pop up in my notifications from my favorite website. They were searching for 5 new contributors for their writing team. As soon as I finished doing the happy dance, I quickly filled out the application and took a deep breath before hitting send. As a writer, this was an incredible opportunity and I wanted this really, really badly.
I’ve been blogging for almost 8 years now and have loved being a part of this unique community of writers. God put this passion in my heart to blog and sometimes I have no idea what I’m doing or why I wake up every morning excited to blog. It drives me and challenges me and baffles me all at the same time. I love blogging! I love bloggers! I’ve watched friends grow their blogs to massive audiences and have encouraged new bloggers as they start their journey.
The best gift you can give a blogger is to read and connect, engage and leave comments, and share and like our posts. That’s why we blog. It’s disappointing when we pour out our heart, time, and effort into a post and it falls flat with readers. But, that’s part of the craziness of blogging.
Y’all, I didn’t make the cut. My initial feelings when I received the email March 28th, was disappointment and failure and tears. (yep, I’ll admit it) I appreciated knowing they prayed over every, single application. 475 brave women applied to (in)courage for the five new voices we were hoping to add and they prayerfully chose 9! Congratulations to all the new writers!
We face disappointment every day. That’s a part of living life out-loud. When we say yes to God, we are called to be strong, and courageous and fearless. But, how do we face disappointment without falling into jealousy, unfulfillment, or feelings of failure?
Circumstances are the opportunity for our heart to show itself. -William Barcley.
Here are 5 ways to face disappointment without losing your sparkle:
- Look to Jesus for our fulfillment. There is nothing on earth more fulfilling than our relationship with Jesus. If we plug into people, places, or things, we will aways come up empty. My sparkle can only come from Jesus, the true joy-giver.
- Thank God for your disappointment. You may not feel like it, but we need to say, “Thank you, God.” Who knows us better in life than our Savior? He wants us to bring everything to Him, our joys, our requests, our fears, our dreams, our disappointments. Jesus knows exactly what I am going through.
- Being content with God’s plan. Do you believe God has a plan for your life? God takes our disappointment and turns it into something good. He will give us the grace to face it and His plans are always perfect. Taking the time to list all the things God has given us, helps us to be grateful as we are reminded that He will be faithful to provide in the future. “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
- Guard your heart. If we don’t guard our heart when we face a disappointment, we can find ourselves falling into a dark place. There is nothing more Satan enjoys then robbing Jesus followers of their sparkle. He will use anger, jealously, discontent, bitterness, unfulfillment to overwhelm our hearts. That’s a sure way our joy in the midst of our pain.
- God is in control. Sometimes God wants to take us out of our comfort zone and re-direct our plans. We think we know what’s best, but ultimately God is in control. It’s up to us how we want to respond. The pressure is off!
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