By Donna Astern

The apostle Paul wrote his disciple Timothy to “endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” (2 Tim. 2:3)

Was that just about opposition to the gospel? Certainly both Paul and Timothy experienced that, but the whole concept of enduring hardness or difficulty is much, much wider.  How was Timothy going to be able to deal with opposition if he hadn’t learned about enduring in other areas of life?

Endurance involves the passage of time; it’s a choice to persevere when the natural tendency is to quit and complain.

For example, do you think Paul— the man who endured shipwrecks, beatings, betrayal, dangerous perils from weather & thieves— would he have “hit the snooze alarm” every morning given the option? (See 2 Corinthians 11:24-26.)  Why was Paul a warrior?