Steadfastness

أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم 

Aal-e-Imran 3:142

أَمْ حَسِبْتُمْ أَن تَدْخُلُوا ٱلْجَنَّةَ وَلَمَّا يَعْلَمِ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِينَ جَٰهَدُوا مِنكُمْ وَيَعْلَمَ ٱلصَّٰبِرِينَ 

Or do you think that you will enter Paradise while Allah has not yet made evident those of you who fight in His cause and made evident those who are steadfast?

_____from Tafsir ibn katheer____

The Ayah asks, do you think that you will enter Paradise without being tested with warfare and hardships. Allah said in Surah Al-Baqarah,

أَمْ حَسِبْتُمْ أَن تَدْخُلُواْ الْجَنَّةَ وَلَمَّا يَأْتِكُم مَّثَلُ الَّذِينَ خَلَوْاْ مِن قَبْلِكُم مَّسَّتْهُمُ الْبَأْسَأءُ وَالضَّرَّاءُ وَزُلْزِلُواْ

Or think you that you will enter Paradise without such (trials) as came to those who passed away before you! They were afflicted with severe poverty and ailments and were so shaken... (2:214)

Allah said,

أَحَسِبَ النَّاسُ أَن يُتْرَكُوا أَن يَقُولُوا امَنَّا وَهُمْ لَا يُفْتَنُونَ

Do people think that they will be left alone because they say:"We believe," and will not be tested. (29:2)

This is why He said here, 

أَمْ حَسِبْتُمْ أَن تَدْخُلُواْ الْجَنَّةَ وَلَمَّا يَعْلَمِ اللّهُ الَّذِينَ جَاهَدُواْ مِنكُمْ وَيَعْلَمَ الصَّابِرِينَ

meaning, you will not earn Paradise until you are tested and thus Allah knows who among you are the ones who struggle and fight in His cause and are patient in the face of the enemy.

______my reflections here_____

To me greatest struggle is the struggle against my own soul. And this ayah reminds me to be steadfast in it. Because Allah is reminding about jannah. And I want to get jannah and nothing can be purchased for free. So to buy a land in jannah I need to struggle against my soul. But it is hard.

_____duaas I made after reading this ayah____

اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ الْجَنَّةَ وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ النَّارِ

O Allah , I ask You for Paradise and seek Your protection from the Fire.

Abu Dawud. See also Al-Albani, Sahih Ibn Majah 2/328

رَبَّنَا أَفْرِغْ عَلَيْنَا صَبْرًا وَتَوَفَّنَا مُسْلِمِينَ

Our Lord! Pour out on us patience and constancy, and take our souls unto thee as Muslims (who bow to thy will)!

Surah Al-A'raf - 7:126