Have you ever felt defeated?
Last February, I went backpacking for the first time with a couple of friends. We went to the Superstition Wilderness of Arizona.
Now, when you think of Arizona, what do you picture? Hot? Dry, Desert? Cactus? Yeah...that’s what we pictured too, but our experience ended up being quite different….
Leading up to and while we were there, the part of Arizona we were in saw crazy amounts of rain. We were backpacking through literal flash flooding! Where we were hiking is usually dry, but we crossed multiple rivers because there was so much rain.
And it was cold. Like, 40s mixed with rain… Our goal for the second day was hiking Flat Iron, which is a big mountain/rock formation. We made it to a part called the Basin, and there, the trail got significantly harder with a steeper grade and smoother rock that had a dusting of snow (oh yeah, there was also a lot of snow in Arizona in the mountains where we were hiking!) and water running down the middle like a mini waterslide.
We made it to a waterfall (again, didn't think that'd be a thing in Arizona) and tried going further up, but the trail was so slippery we decided it was safer to turn around and head back down.
So, as we’re starting to head down this smooth, slippery, steep-grade rock, my friend and I both fell and went sliding into the mini waterslide. Luckily, we didn’t slide all the way down the mountain or anything, but it still hurt.
I could have put on rainpants over my regular pants before heading up this trail, but I didn’t, so my pants and legs were now wet and cold because I fell into a waterslide. AND I was just plain embarrassed because I fell, and you can’t fall gracefully, and there were other people around watching us.
Honestly, at that point, I felt pretty defeated. I even told one of my friends those exact words soon after this experience: “I just feel defeated right now.”
But when you're backpacking you trek on (you kind of have no other choice) and that's what we did. And it still rained off and on that day, but the next day was beautiful, and the day after that was beautiful. And it ended up being a GREAT trip.
Have you heard of Paul from the Bible? After encountering Jesus, he became one of the first missionaries, traveling and telling others about Jesus and starting churches. He was imprisoned several times in his life because of his efforts to share the gospel of the good news of Jesus Christ. There was at least one point where he was stripped, beaten, and flogged because he was preaching God as King.
When Paul wrote the words I’m about to share, he was in prison. It would make perfect sense if Paul felt defeated. But he didn’t. He pressed on. And he wrote a letter to the Philippians encouraging them - and us - to press on.
Why does Paul press on when he has very good reasons to feel defeated?
“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” (Philippians 3:12)
Paul presses on because he knows what is waiting at the end: life eternal with Jesus. His eyes and heart are fixed on Jesus, who has given him eternal life and the strength to press on.
When I fell, I felt defeated because I was hurt and embarrassed. Jesus was BEATEN. He was HUMILIATED; he was God, all-powerful, and there he was in a human body having people spit on him and make fun of him, calling for his death, and physically hurting him and he let them.
When I fell, I had friends there to encourage me and lift my spirits and continue on the journey with me. Jesus had no one. His friends scattered and deserted him. One of his friends betrayed him.
Jesus had every reason to feel defeated. But he stayed on that cross. He could have come down. He could have shown all the onlookers who he was and displayed all his power and glory. But he didn’t. He died.
And then he turned the tables. Instead of him being the defeated one, HE defeated death, and the devil, and sin forever. He rose victorious, in all power and glory. He won for us forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Knowing this gave Paul the strength to press on, and knowing this, we can press on too.
I asked a question to open this devotion, “Have you ever felt defeated?” My guess is that you have. Maybe your feelings of defeat came from physical pain or complications. Maybe you felt defeated because of embarrassment. Perhaps friends or people you thought loved you deserted you or betrayed you. Maybe you’re so wrapped up in some kind of sin that you feel there’s no way out.
Perhaps you were yelled at or made to feel small by parents, teachers, coaches, or someone else. Perhaps you’ve been rejected by someone or some school or some job. Maybe it’s just been little things not going right, mounting that has led to your feelings of defeat.
We’ve all felt defeated and will continue to feel defeated at points in our lives. But that defeat won’t last. We’re NOT defeated because we have a God who loves us so deeply, and a Savior who understands what we’re going through, faced defeat of his own and came out victorious! We press on because we fix our eyes on Jesus and know that he’s forgiven us, and has himself defeated the devil and sin and death and we’ll have eternal life with him one day!
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Written and shared by Sojo. The waterfall in the banner picture is the source of the waterslide she fell into.