Question: Does defeat happen in the mind prior to actual defeat? Answer: Yes Websters Dictionary states that defeat is the unsuccessful end to a struggle or contest; the feeling that accompanies an experience of being thwarted in attaining your goals.
So what is the opposite of defeat?…
Victory!
Defeat is the opposite of victory. When you lose, you suffer defeat. When you win, you defeat your enemy.
“Defeat is a state of mind; no one is defeated until defeat has been accepted as a reality. To me, defeat in anything is merely temporary, and its punishment is but an urge for me to exert greater effort to achieve my goal. Defeat simply tells me that something is wrong in my doing; it is a path leading to success and truth.” Bruce Lee
Please read Numbers Chapters 13 & 14. It speaks of when the children of Israel were sent into the promised land while it was being inhabited by someone other than themselves. They were told to go and scout it out and Moses sent a leader from each tribe to bring back information to the rest of them.
When they returned all of them began to speak of the things they had found. They spoke about the crops and land being beautiful and full of fruit. Then they began to focus on what they saw that deterred them from the promise. They began to confess what they believed to be defeat in their minds.
….Have you ever realized that what we see with our natural eyes and think in our natural minds can destroy what God said we are to inhabit? It’s happened to me before.
They began to speak of the sons of Anak who were giants and you can feel the fear in their tellings.
Here was their mind's defeat. Here is where they began to go wrong. They began to speak of how they felt about themselves and they assumed they were correct.
The Israelite scouts, all except Caleb, said they thought of themselves as grasshoppers and so did their enemies.
Caleb quieted the people and spoke of life and victory, but scripture says the bad report of the other leaders made the Israelites cry and weep all night. Then they began to complain and ask for another leader than Moses (14:1-4).
In the end of the story the Israelites, 20 years old and above, walked around in the wilderness due to their mindsets of defeat and all died there without ever entering into the promised land. Caleb and Joshua and their little ones entered into the promised land.
Their mindsets brought them into a place of defeat before they even had the chance to fail. Victory was impossible in their eyes and mind. I write these words with these questions
in mind:
Are you defeated because of what you can see, feel, think, confess or complain about?
Have you allowed defeat to steal all of your victory because of your mouth speaking things that discourage you?
Are you discouraged by others?
Do you see the things of God or do you only see the things of man?
Will you lose the opportunity to walk into your promises due to your own demise?
My sweet friends, the enemy doesn’t have that much power. You have the choice to walk in defeat or victory. Today, what will you choose?