Hardships. Trials. Unless you subscribe to the particular brand of Christianity that purports true faith reveals itself in God-bestowed private jets, manshions, and a life with no disease (assuming you have enough faith), these are words you likely understand all too well.  As Christ said to the disciples, in the world we have tribulation (John 16:33b). It isn't a question of if, but of when. Whether it's true persecution or just the same difficulties everyone must deal with in a fallen world (rain falls on the just and unjust alike, does it not?), life will bring us trouble and pain.

Lately, I keep hearing the same adage coming out of the mouths of fellow Christians, regarding hardships: that we grow the most in our faith and as Christians during times of hardships and trial. Maybe I'm just primed to notice this phrase, or maybe I'm hanging out with a lot of down-and-out people- I'm not really sure. However, it has caused me to pause and consider: is that really true? Do we really grow the most under pressure, pain, and difficulty?

No, I don't think we thrive as Christians in poor conditions. Trials and hardships can be tests of faith, to be sure:  Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various <sup>[<a title="See footnote c" href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+1&amp;version=NASB#fen-NASB-30269c">c</a>]</sup>trials, <sup>3</sup> knowing that the testing of your faith produces <sup>[<a title="See footnote d" href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+1&amp;version=NASB#fen-NASB-30270d">d</a>]</sup>endurance.  (James 1:2-3). They may help us to withstand more hardships in the future, but they don't cause growth. Tests function to reveal our current state. They show us just how much we can handle, if we lean on God.

The Bible uses a lot of imagery of plants and trees when referring to the people of God and the faithful. Any gardener can tell you that plants and trees thrive and have the greatest growth under ideal conditions: just the right amount of sunlight, the right amount of water, and soil with just the right pH level. Sure, they can still grow, flower or bear fruit under less than ideal conditions, but the greatest growth? It is when there is no hardship.

I have heard many a sermon on trials and difficulty invoking analogies of the tap root, a specific kind of root found in certain plants and trees (but not all), that goes straight down, deep into the soil, enabling the plant to withstand wind, drought, and other hard conditions. In some cases, taproots may grow deeper in cases of drought to seek a water source, thus making the plant hardier and more able to withstand future hardships. But, hardiness is not growth. To be sure, it is an excellent trait, perhaps a necessary one in the life of a Christian, but it is a completely different thing than growth.

I think that there has been an idea perpetuated throughout Christian communities that times of ease are wonderful to enjoy, but somehow detrimental to our faith lives. If things are too easy and we don't have to go through pain, then there is this prevalent notion that we will become complacent or even lukewarm in our faith. Well, I disagree. Good times are getting a bad rap.

It is true that some people may walk away from God when life is easy and they don't need to lean on him, but I think if you are likely to forget God in the good, you are just as likely to forget God in the difficult. What doesn't kill you doesn't always make you stronger, people. Sometimes it weakens you until the next wave finally takes you out.

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He will be like a tree <em>firmly</em> planted by <sup>[<a title="See footnote b" href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+1&amp;version=NASB#fen-NASB-13943b">b</a>]</sup>streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its <sup>[<a title="See footnote c" href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+1&amp;version=NASB#fen-NASB-13943c">c</a>]</sup>leaf does not wither; And <sup>[<a title="See footnote d" href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+1&amp;version=NASB#fen-NASB-13943d">d</a>]</sup>in whatever he does, he prospers. Psalm 1:3 NASB

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