There are days, months, years, when I feel like I’ve been on a 1000-mile march, uphill, carrying 500 pounds on my back. Maybe the apostle Paul knew that feeling, too, and guessed Timothy might also, and why Paul wrote to him:
“You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please Him who enlisted him as a soldier.” 2 Timothy 2:3-4
That word “good” means beautiful, honest, worthy, valuable, virtuous (for appearance or use.)
Be sure we’re in a war, and maybe now more than ever. But we don’t walk alone. God is with us, strengthening us, empowering us, enabling us to finish in victory.
So keep walking. And look up. Cause things may seem bleak right now, but it ain’t over yet. (Spoiler Alert – God wins, and if we’re with Him, so do we.)
Heavenly Father, help us keep moving and to endure the hardship we encounter in this life, not as those who is endure alone or needlessly, but as a people who, in Christ Jesus, oppose your enemy who prowls around looking for someone to devour, and to be witnesses of your great grace and mercy and proclaimers of the power of the gospel to save. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.