"Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer. Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules. The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this."
2 Timothy 2:3-7 (NIV)
Today I went running, well sort of running, jogging and walking for the first time since my leg was injured by the infection and it was tough. It was kind of discouraging at first, because my body due to laying a bed for a month had weakened all over. I felt my heart beating very hard, my breath was short, my back was in pain, and my legs felt weak and weary. But I knew I had to go forward, and keep trying. It was hard, really hard and I wanted to quit. I slowed down a bit..and coughed, choked, and wanted to throw up but kept going. I even looked back toward my home and said, I can always just go back, it would be easier. But I drove on with the run, as hard it was physically and mentally I kept going. There was a shortcut that looked enticing across the grass but I wanted to stay on the path, to finish what I started without trying to cheat. I was hurting when I got back, my lungs burned; I was dizzy, and weak. But I did it! Although hard today I know from all my days of running that if I am patient and keep going at it daily it will get easier and it will become a joy once again.
Sometimes in our walk as Christians after we fall from our own sinful choices, get attacked by the enemy, or just grow weary on the path we are on we want to quit or stop walking in the direction the Lord has given us. We feel like I did when I was on my run and wanted to quit. While I was running I remembered my days as a soldier and knew I could endure this. Soldiers keep going despite what seemingly impossible odds may be surrounding them; they go on despite pain or the surroundings toward their objective. Paul tells us to "Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer." We are to stay focused on Him, the goal, the upward call of Christ Jesus, not get entangled in the affairs of this world, despite the pain and the hardship around us. It's not easy at times but we have to choose Him in the hard times as well. Are we enduring and focusing on Him in the hard times or getting entangled in worldly things to deal with the problems we have?
But that's not all, you can have the ability to endure hardship and not follow after Christ. I have met many a person in my lifetime as a soldier who has had far more endurance to hardship and suffering then I can ever imagine most people having. Yet, they played by their own rules. They lived for themselves and their own pleasures. When we take this journey with Christ we must learn to submit ourselves to His rule in our lives. That takes self discipline which is at the heart of any good athlete. That is why Paul gives us that picture of the athlete when he says, "Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules." Every track athlete knows, they have to stay on the track provided and they know if they leave they are disqualified. They have this track for two reasons, one to keep order but also to keep the athletes on a safe surface. We must endure, but we also must have the self-discipline and trust to let God rule in our lives. God gives us a track to run on and it is His Word. We can try come off the path if we want, but our lives wind up in disorder and we wind up getting hurt or hurting others. Are you staying on the path God has given you today, or are you getting tempted, like I was this morning during my run, at taking a shortcut off the path?
Having endurance, and discipline are keys in our walk with the Lord but the final key here is to have patience and faith. Paul speaks of farmers and there is one thing I have noticed about farmers living here in Morrow County is that they have patience and a whole lot of faith. They plant these tiny little seeds in the ground with the faith that in many months from now, rain will come and crops hundreds of times bigger than the seed planted will grow. That takes faith! Last year, it did not rain for a long time, and it looked bad but these farmers knew and had faith and waited. The rain eventually came and there was an abundance of crops yielded. Although it looked bad, they endured, had discipline, patience and faith and it yielded much. Sometimes in our journey with the Lord we may feel that we are not seeing anything growing just yet, or perhaps your feeling you're in a drought spiritually, or your going through difficult circumstance it is then we must draw on our endurance to keep going, to stay this path and have faith and patience that Lord is completing the work He has laid out for us in our lives. Like on my run this morning, it's easy to look back at where we were and want to go back and give up. However, if we do this daily, endure the tough parts of the day like a soldier, stay the path God has laid with the discipline of an athlete, and most of all have the faith and patience of a farmer knowing that God is control, the struggles will get easier and your joy and peace will grow as the seed planted by the Lord in you begins to bring forth its fruit.
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