ENDuring HARDness

Cultivating JoyPeriodically, I must remind myself about this enduring and hardness bit.   Oh, how it can test my character and I am not inclined one bit as it interferes with my wild inclinations which are sometimes so difficult to keep in check.  I am periodically reminded of this article, I read years ago and keep in my Bible as a constant reminder that my employment with God to endure hardness as a good soldier is not over yet.   "ENDURING means persisting in what we are called to do when our course becomes unbearable; when duty and responsibility thrust us into circumstances that threaten our safety, deprive us of comfort, control or the seeming necessities of life; circumstances that seem to profit us nothing, but will move us toward the mark of simple obedience for Jesus' sake.            HARDNESS is not glamours and never appealing.  Hardness may be demeaning, discouraging, or exhausting, but not necessarily rewarding-at least, not in the foreseeable future.  Hardness is usually unpleasantness of some kind, something we would not choose if it were left up to us to decide.             Enduring means to continue over a long period of time, to hang in there simply because we believe that when we began a course it was the will of God, and WE ARE NOT AUTHORIZED TO QUIT."  --Dick York, Shield of Faith Mission         HOW LONG?    IT SEEMS SO LONG LORD.   YOU MEAN I MUST ENDURE UNTIL THE END OF YOUR PROJECT?  II Tim. 2:3,4 Yes, Becky until the end.  I am using your circumstances to fashion in you the image of His Son.    BBuuut!    NO BUT'S!