About enduring hardship for Christ:

Acts 14:21 They preached the good news in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, 22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of  God. (NIV)

There is no easy road in life for anyone. Some persons have a life of ease and comfort until they reach a hard place on the road. Not being accustomed to hard places, they crumble and wither. Others are born into hardship and live in hardship until they die. There is for most persons on this road of life no 'spiritual bliss� given as a free handout. Hardship is a part of the game on the battlefield of life. Hardship is part of what we must endure as Christians. When in hardship, we have to endure and fight on. As a follower of Christ, the maxim of �No pain, no gain� always applies. Obviously, we would like to avoid the pain while getting the gain, but we suffer the pain for a reason. We suffer the pain because we believe in the mission Christ has called us to achieve. Many of us suffer because of our faith. Many of us could drink alcohol and take drugs to escape the pain of our life, but we do not do these kinds of sinful things. During our suffering, we must fight on because fighting on against the darkness of our pain is the right thing to do for Jesus.