What Defeats You?

The blank screen and the blinking, blinking, blinking cursor defeats me.

Discouragement defeats me.

Lack of energy defeats me.

No joy and laughter defeats me.

Being unable to worship in a fellowship defeats me.

A distant connection with close friends defeats me.

Loss of enthusiasm defeats me.

We get tired of the defeatist attitude after a while don't we? It really doesn't take us anywhere except into the same place we're complaining about: defeat.

The thing is, defeat is a choice. It's an option, not a detestation and too often I see it as the latter instead of the former. How do you get to the edge of the cliff? You walked there. You took one conscious footstep in front of the other until you were looking over the cliff's ledge of defeat.

It's not always that drastic of course, but it can sure seem that way can't it? Right now, I feel as though I'm looking into the face of defeat when it comes to my writing. I've hit a period of "funk" that I'm struggle to crawl out of. I'm in a place where I don't know where to turn from here, so I keep mucking it forward.

Defeat is too often our first option. "Oh, I'm not any good at this, so I guess I'll give it up for right now."

"I don't have any energy for this, so I guess I'll shove it to the back of my mind. Far, far away from any semblance of remembering."

Defeat is the enemy's first attack against your position where God has you. Defeat is not of God. It's not part of His plan for you. Sure, there will be valleys and struggles, but when we hit our lowest, is when God can lift us the highest.

As I was sitting here trying to think of a post for today, I kept feeling defeated by this blinking cursor that only reminded me I didn't have anything to say today. (And I'm still not sure what I have to say is really worth reading).

Should I take a blogging break? Comments and hits are low right now. Maybe readers are ready to move on and I'm ready to throw in the towel. It takes a lot of energy to keep a site like this up and running, is it time to quit? 

I was stepping into the mire of defeat and any second (as I contemplated turning to my archives for any post to fill today's empty slot) the devil was going to pull me face first into the pit. Sure taking a archived post for today would not have been a crime, but for me, it would have been another step toward defeat.

I've surrounded myself with enough of that emotion for this week. Discouragement is sure to come our way. It's natural that we're going to be overwhelmed or unsure of what will happen next, but those are times not to be defeated, but reJOYce in what God is calling every single one of us to do: celebrate every single day in His grace. Because there is NO defeat in that!