Have you experienced some disappointments within the last six months or 12 months? I think it's safe to say that we've all had to navigate throughout some disappointments, but how do we live beyond them? Can we reconcile some of these disappointments so that they don't rob us of future success? That's what we're going to talk about in today's Resilient Faith Online podcast, episode number five. Welcome. I'm Marissa Shatterick, host of the Resilient Faith Online Show. I'm a digital strategist and certified copywriter, but more importantly, a woman of faith. In this podcast, you'll find a biblical perspective to the external and internal challenges we face as online content creators. Join me for some inspiration and practical tips as we build our faith, shape our work to create positive change online. To connect with our private Facebook group of faith-based online entrepreneurs, go to MarissaShabrick.com forward slash faith. Hello, hello, how are you doing, everyone? Today we have an important topic that we're going to talk about, and we're going to discuss disappointments and look at it straight in the face and see how we can have a perspective about disappointments, specifically as it relates to our online business. I'm so glad you're here. I'm so excited to have episode number five. This has been a joy to create these podcasts, and I'm very humbly am thankful that you are listening. So let's talk about it. Let's look at this uh head-on. Now, COVID had an emotional impact on many online businesses and brick and mortar businesses, and frankly, in life, right? Everything kind of shifted and changed, and we're supposedly getting back into the rhythm of things and things are opening up, but there's still a lot of residue left from the impact. And I notice it just from conversations, from things that go on. Um, even here locally where I live, um, there's just different things that are out there that tell me that we're still kind of holding on to those past disappointments. I know for ourselves, my husband and I just started walking, and we can't seem to find a time where we both agree to walk. It's I like to do it early in the morning, like early in the morning, like 4:30. So I'm done by 5:30, so I could take a shower and everything else. That is way too early for him. He wants to do it after work, which is 5:30, 6 o'clock. And here in Las Vegas, I'll tell you, it's getting hot. It's it's in the high 90s. And when you're walking in a desert where it's dry, it's really hard to walk. Literally, you can recall those movies, you know, those old movies where people are lost in a desert walking in the desert. That's kind of like what it feels like. We like to go into summer hibernation here. But in any event, we started walking because he was complaining about his COVID handles. You know, we called them love handles before, but he calls them the COVID handles and gained some, a little extra weight, wanted to get rid of it. And of course, I have to confess, I probably gained a few pounds myself. So why was that? Did COVID cause us to gain weight and eat what we shouldn't eat? I don't think so. There, COVID did a lot of things, but it did not cause us to gain weight. So we're getting in this rhythm of walking and trying to uh shed these extra pounds. But it just had me thinking about the residual effect of circumstances in how we think. We become more apathetic, we think, well, I can't really go to the gym, at least in last year in 2020. And we begin to make these excuses. It starts first with a distraction, and then we make these little excuses, and then we end up with an outcome that oftentimes is uh gives us a sense of regret. So, in looking at this, I know in business a lot of people have had to pivot and do different things, and but I really think the root of finding success from this point forward is to reconcile those disappointments and look at them head on and really address, you know, what went wrong or what did not meet our expectation and grieve that situation, give it that moment of grieving, and then just learn from that experience and move forward. The outcomes, you know, we see today is not the result of circumstances oftentimes, but of choices. Even in business, I've noticed people maybe not necessarily pulling back, but they've kind of lost their spark to move forward. There's maybe a lack of revenue, or maybe their campaigns aren't converting because they feel the market is too saturated, or they feel that social media just demands too much time and they don't have time for social media, or the tech is too complicated, or the webinars aren't filling up. So why do them? And there's this sense of what's the point? During seasons of disappointment, we are very vulnerable and we can develop or adopt some bad mental habits. We stop living with expectations because we're protecting ourselves from disappointment. But this is a time when we can discover inner strength. It's a time where we determine if what we believe is solid, because ultimately the outcome of your work is a result of what's going on inside of you, inside of your mental thoughts, inside of your perspective, because your work is an extension of who you are. The villain isn't virus or politics or economy. The enemy really is fear because we are in that self-preservation mode. So here's some thoughts that I had. Disappointment is an emotion. Disappointment is more an emotion than the outcome. And it's a form of sadness or a feeling of loss. There's a gap between what we expected and the reality, right? As we face reality. God may seem silent and uninvolved during those times, but he's not. He's waiting to see how you're going to respond. It's interesting. Uh, last week, I think it was, I was listening to my pastor, uh, he's awesome, absolutely awesome, at Central Church here in Henderson, Nevada. And he was talking, he had mentioned um the prayer of Jabez. And I remembered the book that came out, gosh, it was almost 20 years ago or more. And it was a great little book, and you can still get the book, but this person, Jabez, who means his name means pain, he was birthed in great pain. And I don't know why that was such a highlight in the scripture because all birth is great pain, but for some reason he was named that way because of great pain. The focus of this person that we don't know a whole lot about in scripture is the fact that he made an audacious prayer. Audacious prayer. And let me read what it is. And this is what we mainly know about this man is this audacious prayer that he had, the faith that he had to ask for something from God. And it's in 1 Chronicles 4.10. He was the one who prayed to the God of Israel, Oh, that you would bless me and expand my territory. Please be with me in all that I do and keep me from all trouble and pain. And God granted him his request. That was an audacious prayer to expand what he had, make it more, that he wanted more. He wanted the ability to do more for God, to serve God. And he also wanted strength to be able to do that and protection to be able to do that. And for us, we can learn from this passage that it's okay to ask God to help us in our business. It's okay to ask him to expand our business because I know most entrepreneurs, they have a heart to truly serve people. They have a message, they have something that they want to do online, and they want to serve people, they want to better the world with what they have, with the answer or the solution to a problem. There is nothing wrong with that to ask God. So living with disappointment is emotionally draining, and it will stop you from expecting from God. You got to give it proper closure to create space to follow God with boldness and with grace. When you're disappointed, yes, it hurts. Yes, it is pain. Yes, it is loss. We grieve it, we give it the time that it needs, but then we learn from it and we move on. And we may not learn at the moment, but if we move on and we lean on what we truly believe that God will expand our territory, that God will protect us, that God will give us strength, that God will lead us and guide our path, then we can confidently move forward without that fear of another disappointment because that's not the kind of God that we serve. So you give yourself permission to grieve and you don't heap on the disappointment. You reap what's already been given to you. There's a way to heap by just being very critical of yourself or blaming yourself or living in guilt or living with insecurity, and you just heap more and more upon that disappointment, and that's only going to cripple you. You have to reap from the promises of God. So redeem what God has already provided from you. And I'm going to share what those things are in just a second. It's it's not about necessarily having more things, but it's leveraging what God has already given you and done for you. So you leverage whatever it is that you're doing. How can I, how can I in my business leverage it and go deeper in it rather than go wide and thin? How can I go deep? How can I take something that I already have, I'm already doing, I feel I was already called to put into place? How could I make it better? How can I go deep with it? We claim what's already ours without limitations. Now, I don't mean name it and claim it, but living with expectation so that you can renew hope, renew dreams, renew your goals. Then as you look back, you will find those timeless truths that were obscured by disappointment. Know that while you're in the messy middle, in that in-between, just healing from the pain and the disappointment and trying to look ahead with hope and confidence. Know that that messy middle, God is in those in-between seasons as well. So you will slowly begin to close the gap between your work and faith, and you'll be able to move forward with confidence. So, how do we live with disappointments? Well, the story isn't over. Don't let disappointments rob you of future blessings. Redeem what God has already given you. We stop carrying what was already nailed to the cross. There is so much that was accomplished when Jesus died on the cross and then he rose again and ascended. So much was accomplished, and yet we still carry it as if it never happened. So when we're tired, he will renew our strength. When we're worried, he will give us peace that surpasses all understanding. When we're lonely, he will never leave you or forsake you. When you're frustrated, he will make your path straight. When you're discouraged, his promises will carry you. When you're angry, his grace is filled with compassion and mercy. And when you're disappointed, ask him to enlarge your border. I hope this has helped you today. I think this is really relevant and important for us to look at disappointments, because as we put ourselves out there, as we create products, as we begin to go at, get out there and try to coach people and create programs, we're gonna face some disappointments, some setbacks. But you know what? We can always pick ourselves up again and we can make it better and we can continue to serve people because we're standing and we're believing in the promises of God. So thank you for listening. If this was helpful, please share it with someone. I'd love that. So remember, cultivate Brazilian faith online and create positive change in the world. If you found this podcast helpful, then subscribe from wherever you're listening today so you never miss an episode. Every subscription, review, or rating means so much to me. So keep them coming and share this with a friend. For more free content, go to marissashadrick.com and remember keep cultivating resilient faith online to create positive change in the world.