Do you ever just feel defeated?

In a funk? Stagnant? Not where you want to be? Unable to overcome “it”? Stuck?

Obviously. We’ve all been there.

Today was one of those days for me in a myriad of ways, and by the end of the evening, I was certainly feeling like I was in some sort of funk, stuck in my own way, stagnant in my poor perspective, and unable to overcome my attitude. In a word, I felt defeated.

On today’s agenda: a double waitressing shift.
Ideal? No.
Big deal? No.
Unreal? Oh yes.

Laying out all the details of my day would be a pointless waste of time, not to mention ridiculously boring. But in a nutshell, I got the raw end of Murphy’s Law. That’s right. If it could go wrong, it did; and my reaction was no exception.

Just after my coworker left for the day, I was seated two tables at once, one of which consisted of fourteen people. No problem…until two of the drinks in the machine ran out almost synchronously, the phones began to ring, the impatient man at my table treated me poorly, and my manager snapped at me for taking too long to deliver food to my massive table among other things.

Unheard of situation? Hardly. It was a typical day in the life of a waitress.

Did that stop me from responding 100% incorrectly? Of course not.

I mumbled under my breath all the while I changed the drinks in the “stupid machine,” rudely demanded that the kitchen workers make themselves useful by answering the phones, treated the man at my table with the same lack of patience he showed me, and after snapping right back at my manager, complained about him to another waitress later in the day, leaving an onlooking trainee with a stellar first impression of me.

Talk about everything going wrong and causes of “funks.”

I left at the end of my second shift feeling horrible. I was still upset at the situations, frustrated at customers, annoyed at coworkers, and bitter toward my boss. Most of all, I was fed up with myself.

I felt defeated. How could I have so thoughtlessly marred my testimony? How could I have reacted so aggressively toward people who desperately need to experience love and grace? And so I continued in my funk, unable to create a solution to my defeated mindset.

And then it hit me.

I can only be defeated as long as I am focusing on myself.

As a follower of Jesus Christ, I stand in a perpetual state of grace (Romans 5:2). I abide in the finished work of Christ! No bad day of mine could ever change how my unchanging Father looks on me as His child. The only thing that can be defeated here is defeat.

So if today you’re feeling defeated, determine where your focus lies. Because as long as our eyes are fixed on the cross, we cannot remain stagnant. We cannot be overcome. We cannot live in a funk. We cannot stay stuck.

We cannot be defeated.