what do you do when you feel hopeless, powerless and defeated?

𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜, 𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚎𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍?

𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸’𝚖 𝚒𝚗. 𝚖𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚒𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚜, 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚗𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚐𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚞𝚙𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗.

𝚑𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛, 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚍𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚖, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚖𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐, 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚝.

𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚍𝚘 𝙸 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚖𝚢 𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝?

𝙸 𝚙𝚛𝚊𝚢.

𝙸 𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚟𝚞𝚕𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎.

𝙸 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚎.

𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎, 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚐𝚘 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚕.

𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚝𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚊𝚗 𝚞𝚗𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎, 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗, 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚗𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚕 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛.

𝚜𝚘 𝙸 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜.

𝙸 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚙𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝙾𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚞𝚎 𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚖𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜.

𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚖𝚢 𝚋𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚢.

𝚊 𝚌𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚑 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚌𝚛𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚗.

𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝’𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙶𝚘𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚞𝚙 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚐𝚕𝚘𝚛𝚢,

𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚋𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚐𝚎𝚜 𝚖𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝙷𝚒𝚜.

𝚜𝚘 𝚒 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚢 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚃𝚛𝚞𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎.

Psalms‬ ‭91‬:‭1‬-‭16‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” 

Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. 

If you say, ‘The Lord is my refuge,’ and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent. 

‘Because he loves me,’ says the Lord, ‘I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.’”