A flower in the desert

Who needs God more? The rich man with his complacent life, or the homeless man struggling on the streets? The truth is, both need God, but the homeless man is more aware of his need. Pain and hardships show people that they are not invincible, that they are not omnipotent, and that they need the One who is. From Christianity's origin, Christ and his followers have been persecuted. In the Roman Empire, Christians were forced to worship in secret lest they be discovered and murdered.
What makes life precious to us? The finite rare time we have to live it. The early Christians realized that the blessing we have received to just believe in Christ, let alone the fact that He died for us, is a rare, precious gift. The persecution they suffered from evil only strengthened their belief in Christ's goodness. In America, Christianity has rarely suffered persecution. Indeed, it has been viewed as a right that cannot be taken away. In some cases, this idea has led to the mistaken idea that Christianity can be left on the back burner, to be called upon when life is tough and to be ignored when life is easy.
If Christianity faced trials again, is that truly altogether terrible? It is when we are tested that we can truly prove the strength of our faith. It is when it is impossible for us to prevail in life that we really see the power of God working in our lives. The hardship and ridicule from the secular world might fall increasingly heavily on the Christian's shoulders, but our belief in God keeps are heads high. The hardships will destroy pride, complacency, and apathy. But hardships can strength a person's faith.
The Jewish people have been attacked, enslaved, and mass murdered through time, by long-dead nations and current ones. Yet the Jewish faith has never failed, and the Jews continue to survive. Which is stronger? A flower in a meadow, or a flower in the desert? The flower in the desert is stronger, because it knows just how precious water is. It knows that it cannot take anything for granted, that it must be thankful for each raindrop. That is what persecution and hardship will do to a religion. They make Christians thankful for each drop of God's grace.
So, if the world turns on Christianity, Christians must hold even closer to God's truth. We can learn to follow in the footsteps of the Jews. And we will know that whatever pain, whatever persecution, whatever ridicule or torture the world can throw at us, Jesus Christ our Savior bore more than we could ever bear or will ever bear on that cross.