In the early days of our church, there was a young man who attended our church who had the “defeatist” mentality. And I see this same mentality in so many of the young men, especially these days, and it is alarming. 
What is that mentality? It’s the mindset that thinks, “Because I have a such and such condition, I will never be able to…” That young man told me an incident that happened years ago. He was sucker punched in the head by someone in a fight. That gave him a concussion and since then he hadn’t been able to think straight (so he says). So, he started using marijuana, and started smoking excessively. However, when I would talk to him, he WAS able to think straight. He was able to put the two and two together and was able to function normally. But in his mind, his condition got worse and worse until he quit his job, lost his apartment, and became homeless, living out of his car. But physically there was nothing wrong with him! But he MADE HIMSELF a handicap because of an incident that happened years ago, and he attributed all his failures to that event! 
I see this same phenomenon in the young people again and again. Because they may have faced some failures in the past, they believe they will never be good at anything. And so they give up. And even if they are exhorted to try again, they will say, “Well, I will probably fail anyway, but if you say so, I guess I will at least try…” And then a few weeks later, they quit. The reason? The defeatist mentality. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. 
This is not humility. It’s unbelief! Fatalism or defeatism is not submitting to God’s will, but rather submitting to our own whims and choosing to go our own way! It’s choosing to take the easy way out, rather than doing the hard work of staying put, persevering, and hanging on. (Like a young father who says, “I was never good with kids. I am walking away for their good.” What a coward!!) 
“For this reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.” 2 Peter 1:5
Believing in God’s sovereignty does not mean thinking, “Oh, well, what I do doesn’t matter because what will be will be.” But rather, “God will do His will through my effort!” 
Christian, rise up and act, for God acts in you!
PH