Discipleship can often do that to us as it serves God's purposes. Remember, it took persecution in Jerusalem for the gospel to spread beyond those city walls. As believers fled the city to take up residence in other places, they took the good news of the way of Jesus Christ with them. And, the church begins to flourish. Such is the power of faithful discipleship, faithful witness.
Faith can flourish in persecution and get flabby in affluence.
Faith can grow in strength, discipline and dedication in times of hardship, and fall into just one of a number of things that vie for our attention in times of ease. One of the marvels of the human condition is that it often takes hardship for God to get our attention. It often takes a time of suffering to strengthen our commitments and to prove our integrity. A number of you here know precisely what I mean. Hardship and risk are often the road which leads us to the Christian life.