When soldiers go into battle to fight for their country, they usually know that it can go either way – they may die in battle, or they may come back home but whatever comes their way, they usually agree to the terms and conditions. Why? They love their families, country and all what they left behind and would fight what is ahead of them to protect them against all odds.
What did Apostle Paul mean when he wrote in 2Timothy 2:3-5 “join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer. Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules.”
We all know who a soldier is in the real world, it’s one who fights for his country to defend it against its enemies. When we get saved, we become soldiers in God’s Mighty Army, and this means we will go to war from time to time and fight out these battles of suffering, hardships, sickness and trials. Sometimes, through these battles, God takes us home much earlier than we had anticipated, and we go into His presence and sometimes He allows us to go all the way through and because He is Sovereign, He does what is best for He knows the end from the beginning. The beauty in being a soldier in God’s army is that we don’t get to fight a physical war, but a spiritual one as we read in Ephesians 6:12 “for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Therefore, when we go to war, we should go fully armed with the armour of God to enable us to stand against all the wiles of the devil who is our enemy – Ephesians 6:11.
One truth that many believers don’t seem to agree or like, is that even good soldiers in God’s army will go through suffering. We also know as we read in Hebrews 5:8 that, “Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered,” Jesus also went through suffering and when we read the Bible, we also get to see many Bible characters who went through suffering, why then should we be different? After all Jesus did say, “you will indeed drink from my cup” Matthew 20:23. Remember Job? He lost everything in one day, children, property, animals, name it, he lost it all, but the Bible records that never did he raise his voice to curse God. When his trial was over, God gave back to Job even more than he had before.
Apostle Paul was chained for the most part of his earthly ministry, but even when he was in chains, he never stopped spreading God’s Word and in Philippians 1:12-14 we get to see this very clearly. 12 “Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. 13 As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. 14 And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.” Pauls chains helped advance the gospel of Jesus Christ and because of his perseverance and dedication, we can now read the Bible and be blessed through it. Paul was beheaded in Rome in 66AD, he died as a true soldier in God’s army of believers.
Peter is a disciple we cannot forget to mention. This guy was both zealous and fanatic for Christ to the point that he didn’t want Jesus to go through death as we read in Matthew 16:22 “Peter took him (Jesus) aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” The audacity in Peter was to be admired and feared at the same time. How do you take your Master to the side and start rebuking Him? But as far as Peter was concerned, he was just being a loyal disciple & friend who didn’t want His master to suffer. Peter was also a dare devil who dared to ask Jesus if he could call out to him on the lake and when Jesus did, Peter actually walked on water, well for a few steps before he doubted and started sinking, but still he walked on water. Peter then went on to disown Jesus 3 times but we still see him being used by God in the making of the very first church. Peter together with the other disciples were arrested on many occasions and told to renounce the name of Jesus Christ, but they refused and stood on their faith on God and because of that, they were beaten, flogged, imprisoned and many of them died as martys because of their faith. Peter in particulr was crucified upside down in Rome during Emperor Nero’s reign in 64CE. Jesus said, “if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it Matthew 16:24-25
As we read in 2Timothy, Paul was urging Timothy that no true soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs. What are these civilian matters? I think what Paul was trying to say is not to lose focus on what’s truly important and that is as a believer we need to carry our cross and follow Jesus. Our focus should be on our walk with God, are we becoming more like Him or are we becoming more like the people of the world? Are we letting go of our past ways of living and doing things? Or are we still entangled in hatred, malice, gossipping, lying and everything inbetween. It’s a high time we grow as children of God and become spiritually mature. When we move past getting entangled with civilian affairs, then we will please our Commanding Officer – our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ The Commander of God’s Army. The truth is this, God is pleased when His children get to know Him and have a relationship with Him for He is such a loving Father who loves us very much & because of this love, He sent His Son to die on the cross so that we may receive forgiveness of sin and everlasting life through Him. Indeed God has loved us with an everlasting love.
Paul brings out another important aspect, when he writes, “anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by completing according to the rules.” We are all running the race of our lifes each to the best of our ability. When we run this race without Jesus in it, we are actually running a race that will end in defeat and weeping. However, our story changes when we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour and our names are now written in The Lamb’s Book of Life, at the end of our race we will receive different crowns as a reward for our spiritual race here on earth and we find these crowns mentioned in the Bible
2Timothy 4:8 speaks of a Crown of Righteousness that is set for those who have fought the good fight, have finished the race and have kept the faith. 1Peter 5:4 speaks of a Crown of Glory that will never fade away, this crown is to be given to the clergy who shepherd God’s flock well. 2Timothy 2:5 speaks of a Victor’s Crown. 1Corinthians 9:25 speaks of an Incorruptible Crown that will last forever. 1Thessalonians 2:19 / Philippians 4:1 speaks of a Crown of Rejoicing which we will receive and glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when He comes. James 1:12 / Revelation 2:10 speaks of a Crown of Life bestowed for those who persevere under trials. I don’t know about you, but I wanna see my Saviour face to face one day, and behold the beauty of God’s Glory, bowing before my Heavenly Father! Oh what a sight to behold – the crowns will be an added addition.
We have read about true soldiers who died because of their faith in the Bible, what of those who are still living? My friend and pastor Rev. Pam Oyola is one of these. She is a true soldier in God’s army having gone through every form of test and hardship after she discovered she had breast cancer. But who is like the Lord who heals our diseases? Today, Rev. Pam is living and breathing, a true testimony of God’s faithfulness and healing. I remember when she came back to church and on this particular day she was preaching on the different levels of faith, ‘little faith, great faith, perfect faith (even if) and Hallelujah faith.’ As she was preaching, she also shared the story of her journey and how through the sickness, her faith in God continued to grow and now she is at a whole new level and her faith in God cannot be shaken by anything! Through her story, many lives have been touched, encouraged and transformed and God continues to receive all the Glory and Honor. Indeed when we go through trials and hardships, God uses it to encourage millions of others – your pain is never in vain. Rev. Pam is not the only one, there are thousands upon thousands of God’s soldiers who have gone through unthinkable hardships and they lived to tell their story. Their story encourages, uplifts and even through these stories, lives are changed forever when a soul comes to Christ.
We need to remember that when all is said and done as beleivers, we are all soldiers in God’s Army and when He called you to go into that battle your in right now, He knew why He placed you where the fight is strongest and that’s because He places His strong and best soldiers in the battlefield not for them to be defeated, but to win and emerge victorious for His Kingdom. Therefore next time you go to war, army yourself with God’s armour as per Ephesians 6:14-18 14Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.
Do not despair child of God because you are on the winning side. No matter how long the battle lasts for, God is with you, He will never leave you nor forsake you. And when you feel your energy levels going down, He will send you help in the form of an army of believers praying for you, people donating money to help your situation, connections, the list is endless. Whatever your situation may be, God will send the exact help that you need to boost your energy and strength. 1 Peter 5:10-11 tells us, “And then, after your brief suffering, the God of all loving grace, who has called you to share in his eternal glory in Christ, will personally and powerfully restore you and make you stronger than ever. Yes, he will set you firmly in place and build you up. And he has all the power needed to do this —forever! Amen.”
Don’t go through life and run this race without knowing Jesus Christ, for He said, “what good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” Matthew 16:26.
Finally remember the words of Paul when he writes: “here is a trustworthy saying: if we died with Him, we will also live with Him; if we endure, we will also reign with Him. If we disown Him, He will also disown us; if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot disown Himself.” No matter what comes your way, God remains sovereign, choose the 1 person who will never let you down, choose Jesus!
God bless you!!
Cynthia Gitonga Blog 