It wasn't too long ago that most people, both Christian and non-Christian, understood this salient fact. I'm quite sure that our grandparents, who knew the deprivations of the Great Depression, and the boys on Omaha Beach comprehended this certainty. However, our generation, driven by caprice and selfishness, along with a cult of victimization, seems to believe that every pleasure in life is owed to them and that all sorrow, disease, or calamity should be kept far from them. To paraphrase C.S. Lewis, life on planet earth will never be so good, so as to forget the promise of heaven. It's time to grow up and reaffirm this truth.
Faith is more than confession.
As James declares, faith without works is dead. It is too easy to complain and curse the darkness. No faith is required to recognize evil or chaff under its influence. But making a stand, even as a sinful man, this requires faith. Faith, and the acts of faith, are more generally played out in what might be termed holy monotony.