2 Timothy 2:3 - "Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ."

Yesterday I attended a seminar held by the Montford Point Marines.  It was quite interesting.  The Montford Point Marines were the first blacks to
enter the U.S. Marine Corps back in 1942 when the Marines were finally racially integrated.   Of course these, now 80 year-old, men had many stories
to tell about the struggles against oppression by an organization that cared little for having them as a part of it.  However, what was most striking to
me was the fact that they seemed to take it all in stride at the time and seemed to realize that it was something they simply had to overcome.  They
had stories of not being allowed to eat on the train while going back and forth from home to their training base in North Carolina.  They told stories
about being arrested for impersonating Marines, when in fact they were.  And they talked about the daily hardship of simply walking down the street
and facing harassment from the locals.  To me, they seemed to shrug it off and live above it all.

Perhaps that's what the verse in Timothy is talking about when it says, "endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." A soldier or Marine is
required to face the tough times and keep moving forward.  They are trained so that in the rigors of combat, they will remain steadfast in achieving
their objective.

So how are you doing today as a soldier of Christ? Is the hardship that you're going through simply training for future "combat"?  Sure it is. God is
preparing/training you for the real conflict to come later.  If we can simply live above it all, then this hardship will be profitable for us in the end.
Days, months and years from now, people will hear our story, just as I did with the Montford Point Marines, and the people will stand in awe of our
ability to persevere as a "good soldier of Jesus Christ."