I held the door open for a war veteran. He must have been in his late 80’s. He was scooting along with his walker with the wobbled pace of a fickle summer breeze. His “Korean War Veteran” cap in place, and his sweet inviting smile, (which came as a shock to me considering what it has been like to speak to people without knowing their entire face, for the past year and a half, anyway. Thanks, Corona.) Nevertheless, he smiled at me, mask under his chin.

I turned to him and said “thank you for your service.” He stopped and looked at me. He smiled. “I did it for you,” he said.

I felt that. He meant it.

I thanked him again and told him how much I sincerely appreciated it. After feeling so far from people for this past year, I had a sweet connection with a stranger and it felt so good. I smiled back and we just paused in the moment.

After a couple seconds of spontaneous connection, he remembered where he was going and he walked away from me and murmured “and it wasn’t easy.” I loved his honesty. As I walked away I thought to myself, “he’s right.”

See, no matter what war we fight, whether it’s military wars, wars against crime, or even our own spiritual wars which are usually us against us, they are never easy. It’s like the adage says, “if it were easy everyone would do it.”

The hard road, always leads to immense growth and transformation. But choosing that road, that can be a war within itself. The Veteran was sweet and polite. But more than anything, he was honest and real.

Life is hard.

Faith is hard.

Walking away from sin and dying to self, for the sake of advancing the Gospel and pointing to Jesus, it’s hard.

But so was the cross.

I am thankful He [Jesus] endured it, when I woulda quit. I am thankful for The Veteran. I am thankful for the reminder. I am thankful for the work Jesus did on the cross. And I am thankful that my wretched heart has not discouraged him from loving me. He has every reason to!

“It was hard.”

Friends, it will be. Press on.

“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” -1 Corinthians 15:58 (ESV)

Enduring is not in vain. But how do you press on in light of the internal wars?

More on that later…