Endurance and Resistance

One of the things that we must keep in mind as we progress through the Summer Season and into the New Year on the Hebrew Calendar, is that we are in a War. There are still too many believers that want to operate as Christian Civilians rather than Spiritual Warriors. Whether you like it or not, the moment you became a Christian, you entered a Spiritual War (Romans 7). God has given us everything we need to access the Victory, and the Victory has already been won through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (Romans 8). But we still have to adopt a Soldier's Mentality. If we do not learn how to fight the good fight of faith and embrace the Warfare to which we have been called (Ephesians 6), then we will not be prepared nor equipped to fight the necessary battles required to advance the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in Heaven.

In order to posture oneself appropriately in Spiritual Warfare, there are two spiritual attributes that are required: Endurance and Resistance. If we don't learn how to Endure, and if we don't learn how to Resist, we will not be equipped to be the Spiritual Soldiers that God is calling us to be.

In regards to Endurance, it is the ability to absorb and internalize hardship and discomfort in the midst of adverse conditions and circumstances. Paul admonishes us to "endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ" (2Timothy 2). For many of us, the last several months have been hard. For others of us, the last several years have been hard. But the word of God teaches us to Endure. This is part of our Warfare. No matter the situation, no matter the circumstance, as a child of God, nothing is happening in your life that the Father has not Sovereignly Allowed. Therefore, we know it is working for our Good (Romans 8). The question is, do we have the spirit to "hang on in there", or are we going to be Quitters. What I'm learning is, you can Quit without necessarily Leaving. Some people think that because they don't go anywhere "physically" that they haven't necessarily quit. Wrong. When you quit trying, when you stop giving your best, when you become indifferent and cynical and nonchalant, guess what, you just quit. No saints, we've got to endure. We've got to endure the pain, endure the trials, endure the discomfort, endure the criticism. It's all part of the Warfare.

The next area of Warfare in Christ is Resistance. It's not just enough to Endure, we must also learn how to Resist. This is where a lot of believers miss it, because we think that "enduring" should be enough. Wrong. Why? Because even though you're being challenged to endure, you're still under attack. "I thought what I was having to endure was the attack"? To a very large degree it is, but it's not restricted to that. Even while you're enduring heartaches and trials, Satan is still looking for a way to exploit you and defeat you (John 10). This is what he does. And what can happen, if you don't learn to operate in "resistance-mode", while you're being challenged to endure, Satan can sneak up on you and get you to fall and digress in a particular area because you weren't resisting him. The scripture says, "resist the devil and he will flee from you" (James 4). How do you resist the devil? By staying watchful and prayerful, and being sober and vigilante (1Peter 5).

The greatest example of Endurance and Resistance was Jesus. When He was in the wilderness for 40 days (Matthew 4), He not only endured the heat of being outside in the burning sun and the hunger of going without food for 40 days, but He had to resist Satanic temptation at the same time. This is the essence of Spiritual Warfare. Self-Denial and Satanic Resistance.  Is it easy? No. But is it possible? For with God nothing shall be impossible (Luke 2). Let us allow the Holy Spirit to grow us all up into the Spiritual Warriors that we're called to be, and learn to operate in Endurance and Resistance.