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Written by Gloria Copeland

"Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ" (2 Tim. 2:3).

There are no "ifs" about it. Hard times are going to come in the life of every believer. There will be times when circumstances will seem dark, times when you face seemingly impossible obstacles, times when defeat seems inevitable.

In 2 Timothy 2:3, the Apostle Paul didn't tell Timothy, "If hard times come, endure them." He simply said, "Endure hardness."

Some Christians become confused when those times come. "What's happening here?" they cry. "I thought Jesus redeemed me from the curse!"

He did, but you can rest assured, Satan will challenge that redemption. He will try his best to steal it from you by pulling you off your walk of faith. Jesus warned us about that in the parable of the sower in Mark 4:14-17. He said, "Satan cometh immediately, and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts."

Satan will not sit idly by while you sail through life, effortlessly believing the Word of God. He'll pressure you with hard times. He'll attack you with sickness or lack, then he'll lie to you and tell you that God doesn't care. He'll try to convince you that God is not going to answer your prayer this time. He'll attempt to talk you into believing there's no way out and that you will end up a miserable failure.

When those hard times come, don't cave into pressure. Don't give up. Stand on the Word and endure hardness like a good soldier until victory comes.

Speak the Word: I endure hard times as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. I stand firm for God has given me the victory. (2 Tim. 2:3)

For Further Study: 2 Timothy 2:1-7

Daily Scripture Reading: Numbers 27-28; John 12

Excerpt permission granted by
Eagle Mountain International Church, Inc.
aka:  Kenneth Copeland Ministries