Enduring Hardness as a Good Soldier of Jesus Christ
Yesterday morning, I read this verse: “Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Timothy 2:3). Many people are going through difficult times right now. Mothers are caring for their sick children. They are woken up in the middle of the night often. They aren’t feeling well themselves. Their husbands are struggling under the weight of not being able to work. Money is becoming scarce. Things of this world look frightening. Yet, we are told to endure hard times and trials as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. How do we do this?
We take one day, maybe even one moment, at a time. I was a very sick mother while raising my children. I suffered greatly and it was a hard time, but God helped me through. His mercy and grace covered me the entire time and He will do the same for you, women. He promises that we can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens us. The ALL things include everything that He has asked us to do. He will be your strength through these hard times. His grace is sufficient.
How do we keep our minds at peace when everything around us is raging. Here’s what my godly friend sent to me and I pray it blesses you.
H – HALLELUJAH! WHAT A SAVIOR! Remember during these days that the government won’t save us or bring us peace, only our Savior can do that. I Corinthians 2:5 says “Your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.” And Ephesians 5:8 tells us “to walk as children of light.” That is walking in the joy of knowing our Savior is alive and reigns and is still in control.
O – ONWARD CHRISTIAN SOLDIER! Remember to not get entangled in the news, the upward curve of the virus stats this week or anything else that brings you down. 2 Timothy 2:4 says, “No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please Him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.” Don’t be entangled in discouragement and fear, but instead move forward in faith and be God’s light to others!
P – PURPOSEFUL HEARTS! Remember that our purpose is not to see the end of this pandemic, but to trust God and be peaceful in the midst of it and find ways to encourage and uplift others. We can do that through e-mails, texts, snail mail, phone calls, praying for others and by being an example. “Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.” (Romans 14:19)
E – EYES ON JESUS! Remember to fix your eyes on Jesus, not on the world around you. Jehoshaphat was facing a desperate crisis in II Chronicles 20, but in verse 12 he says, “We are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us, nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on Thee.” Eyes fixed on Jesus will always bring peace! (Isaiah 26:3)
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6,7
9 thoughts on “Enduring Hardness as a Good Soldier of Jesus Christ”
That is a beautiful acrostic, Lori! Can you make that as a post so we can share it? Or a meme? Something positive to go viral during these crazy days. Very uplifting♥️
Encouraging words that are like honey to the soul.. Thanks for sharing.
Our little island is under lockdown currently. As I tidied up my children’s outdoor painting equipment this afternoon, I looked over the fence and across the lane to respond to a greeting from a kind elderly Christian couple. When I mentioned what a shame it was to be so restricted during such fine weather, they reminded me to consider Anne Frank. Wow. Don’t you just love how wisely godly older people communicate so much yet saying so little? I thanked them for pulling me away from the path of ingratitude and showing me that I still have so much to be thankful for even during these hard times. I went in the house and wrote out 1 Thessalonians 5:18 on the white board in the kitchen as a reminder for the whole family in the coming weeks.
Your blog is such a encouragement to me as a young mother Lori! God is SO good and gracious to us isn’t he. During this time He has given me a full heart’s desire to home school our 3 young children rather than send them to a private Christian school moving forward. Next year they will be 1st grade, preschool, and toddler. I would love to know more about your experiences during that stage. 🙂 What worked well, what you found to be most challenging etc. I am considering joining a Christian home school co-op that meets just 1/week to get to know other families in the area as we have recently moved. We aren’t that far from our previous community but it would be nice to get to know some other local families who also home school.
We were involved in other homeschool groups which my children loved. Israel Wayne has GREAT homeschooling books. I encourage you to buy some of them and learn from him. He has a LOT of wisdom and experience.
Focus on basics. Don’t get too overwhelmed with all the different ways to do it. The most important things are phonics and basic arithmetic at the beginning, then reading aloud — A LOT of reading aloud. Also, reading to them “older” than they are; this makes a difference later. One thing we did which I am very glad we did was read famous Shakespeare passages — “To Be or Not To Be”, “The Quality of Mercy”, “What’s In a Name”, “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow”, etc., as well as famous poems. I suggest investing in a good poetry anthology; you’ll never regret it. And of course memorization of Bible verses.
The Quality of Mercy is my favorite Monologue in History!
With a kindergartener, you could introduce journal writing. By researching “kid writing” you may find teaching tips. I taught kindergarten for several years before our first child was born. Age-appropriate writing for this stage pulls together many skills, and gives you opportunities to teach concepts authentically. To write, children practice handwriting, left to right progression, letter sounds, punctuation, etc. At the beginning, it may be drawing a picture to tell a story, but then skills can be built upon. If the picture is the beach, “what do you hear in the word beach?” Then “what letter makes the sound ‘buh’, or ‘ee’. When I taught this process, it was a challenge to get around to my students; it works great one-on-one, so ideal for a homeschool environment.
I’ve described a simplified process-if you’re interested, I’d suggest researching ideas on getting started. I studied it in grad. school, and I remember the thrill of seeing my students’ writing look just like the textbook demonstrations, lol! Your oldest child’s age is a great time to start and it will align with their reading/phonics instruction.
You have a great attitude about homeschooling with a young family-best wishes! ?
Dear Lori,
Your blog is so inspiring but I just feel, that I will never make a good wife or stay at home mom. I’m not very intelligent and far less intelligent than my husband, so I feel I won’t be able to give my husband godly advice or homeschool our kids. And I am not very pretty so I feel I will never be able to please my husband. Is it possible that some people are just not made for this?