2 Timothy 2:3
3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
-Paul helped get Timothy started in the ministry by writing him letters teaching him how to be a man of God. In the course of those letters, Paul makes this statement in 2:3 to Timothy as a reminder that trouble and opposition are never far from those who follow Jesus. We will have good days, but we must never forget that we live in a world presently ruled by Satan (John 14:30, 2 Corinthians 4:4); the one who hates God the most. It should come as no surprise that he wants to make things difficult for us. Paul’s admonition to Timothy holds true for us as well: when hardness comes, ENDURE; for “if thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.” (Proverbs 24:10) And when you endure, don’t be as the heathen who like to murmur and complain, but rather, endure as a battle-hardened soldier in the Lord’s Host.
