“More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.”
Romans 5:3-5 (RSV)
When I was a child, my brothers and I were reminded that we were Spartans, especially whenever we skinned a knee or got hurt while playing. My father was from the region of Greece, known as Sparta. The legendary Spartan warriors were known for being highly resistant to the hardships of war, cold, hunger, thirst or pain. Though it’s partly legend, Spartan children in 650 B.C. were actually trained from an early age to have high endurance to all types of hardships.
The apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesian church told them to put on the full armor of God in order to stand firm in the faith. As Spartan soldiers used to strive for physical endurance, Christians strive for the endurance of faith. We stand firm in perseverance of our faith, even during hardship or pain. That makes us veteran survivors in a spiritual army of God.
I once heard a true story of an 84 year old retired Navy seal, who was a widower living alone in Fort Meyers, Florida. During Hurricane Ian in 2022, the hurricane washed away his home as well as many others in his area. He survived by clinging to his leather sofa, using it as a lifeboat on the rushing waters.
The 84 year old retired Navy Seal had a cardiac health condition, making the ordeal even more stressful. He was without food or water for 26 hours, floating on his leather sofa, until found by rescue teams. His strength to survive came from tapping into his many years as a Navy Seal, which kept him calm the whole time.
When he was rescued after 26 hours, he was exhausted and dehydrated but after being checked out at a local hospital, he was discharged in good health.
His son later asked him if he was afraid while waiting to be rescued, and he said he was never afraid because he was trained for this. To the staff at the hospital he may have appeared as an average retired senior, with cardiac health issues, who narrowly escaped drowning, but his self identity was as a veteran Navy Seal, trained to survive rushing waters, hunger, thirst, cold or pain.
This incredible true story was shared with me by a surgeon I worked with in 2022, because that 84 year old retired Navy Seal is his father. His story touched me because I learned a valuable lesson from it. His father said that endurance is what he was trained for. It was apparent that despite age and poor cardiac health, once a veteran of survival, always a veteran of survival. He is someone that my own father would have called a Spartan.
I can apply the same idea to being veterans of spiritual survival of the faith, since we’ve all been trained through the many trials that tested our faith over time. We have learned to survive the deep flood waters of spiritual warfare, pain, hunger, thirst or cold. We have been through spiritual hurricanes that rushed in and overflowed our state of comfort and stability, yet we endured by trusting God through every storm, which prepares us for the next one.
We are trained veteran survivors of faith in Jesus Christ. When the flood waters rush in, we float on our lifeboat of hope and faith, until the rescue team of Heaven comes to our help. We may be spiritually dehydrated and weary when help arrives, but we have gained the most valuable of all virtues, endurance.
Without endurance, no other virtue can be sustained without it. Faith, hope or love have little value if they do not “endure” the tests and trials of life. Endurance, through tribulation, builds character and character brings hope, and we need renewed hope every day. Each one of us is the tested and trained spiritual version of a Navy Seal.
We are all led by the Master of endurance, who is Jesus, and He will always bring us through flood waters with renewed hope and perfect peace.
Lord, thank you for the endurance that comes through the training of past trials, which leads to the gain other virtues as well. Amen
