When I was 12 years old, my dad took my brother and me hunting in part of the Hunter-Liggett Army base located in Monterey County, California. It was early fall, and it was still hot, just like it had been in mid-summer.

As we hiked, we crossed a dirt road. As we topped a hill, a group of soldiers in training, who were hiking toward us, stretched out before us. Their faces were sweaty and drawn. We stepped to the side of the road to let them pass.

As they passed, I felt sorry for the soldiers. I took out my canteen and handed it to the nearest soldier. He offered a weak smile and said, “Sorry, I can’t take it.” As the soldiers passed by, I was confused. Offering water to someone on the brink of dehydration seemed like a sensible offer.

My dad later explained that the soldiers were in training for war. Their training prepared them to survive the rigors of warfare beyond the limits of personal strength.

That experience occurred around the time the United States was entering the Vietnam War. What I did not know at that time was that some of the faces who were passing by me that day would not survive the war. To take a quick and secretive drink offered by an innocent young boy would have short-circuited their training. The soldier was honoring the purpose of his training.

Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans, “For, everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope” (Romans 15:4).

God uses our spiritual endurance to provide us hope in times of spiritual warfare when the hell is stretching us past our limits of endurance. Only obeying God’s word can give that kind of hope.

As we mature in our faith, we will be offered quick fixes to satisfy our immediate needs—the perceived needs empowered by lust, greed, and impatience. Those offerings will weaken us when we face real spiritual conflict. We will become unsuited for the challenges the spiritual battle brings when we have been called to defend our families, our faith, and the principles of the nation where we live. Those who need us to remain strong in the heat of battle will depend on our spiritual endurance when hell engages us in battle.