Sacred Struggle

When I am visiting someone's house, there is a tendency in me to to become curiously enamored by their books. I'll usually pick up a quick stack and glance through them, noting which ones I would love to read at a later time, or borrow of course. Well, last night I was hanging out with some friends and came across two books that stood out to me. The first one is a William Butler Yeats Selected Poems book, full of poems that warmly remind me of my love of poetry in high school (and how much I want to love it again). The second one, interestingly enough is "Sacred Marriage" by Gary Thomas. I am definitely adding this to my "to read" shelf on GoodReads. I would like to share a selection of that book, one that really caught my eye. The book is about marriage, but this portion more specifically, about our Christian lives. At the moment, I really relate to it. So here we go, taken from chapter eight, "Sacred Struggle."

   The tendency to avoid difficulty is a grave spiritual failing that can and often does keep us in Christian infancy. The great spiritual writers warned that this life is difficult and that we should use the difficulty to build up character.
   William Law, an eighteen century Anglican writer, asks, "How many saints has adversity sent to Heaven? And how many poor sinners has prosperity plunged into everlasting misery?"  

John Climacus, who wrote the Eastern classic on the Christian faith in the fifth century, mocks our demand to have it easy and to shun struggle:   "I would not consider any spirituality worthwhile that wants to walk in sweetness and ease and run from the imitation of Christ." 

Jesus promised us that everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice seasoned with salt (Mark 9:49). The desire for ease, comfort, and stress-free living is an indirect desire to remain an  "unseasoned," immature Christian. Struggle makes us stronger; it builds us up and deepens our faith.

  But this result is achieved only when we face the struggle head on, not when we run from it. Gary and Betsy Ricucci point out, "Our Lord has sovereignly ordained that our refining process take place as we go through difficulties, not around them. The Bible is filled with examples of those who overcame as they passed through the desert, the Red Sea, the fiery furnace, and ultimately the cross. God doesnt protect Christians from their problems, but he helps them walk victoriously through them.

Are we indirectly desiring to remain unseasoned infants? Or are we relying on God to get us through and deepen our faith?

What do you think?