It seems that every day the media sends out reports on the persecution of Christians who are being held captive and soon after killed through horrific methods like burning or beheading.      

For example, Meriam Ibrahim is a Sudanese woman who was sentenced to death for marrying a Christian man and released only after much controversy. Like Ibrahim, some of these Christians are told that they will be released if they denounce their faith in Jesus Christ, but they remain steadfast and refuse to denounce their faith in Christ.

But if we were in their shoes, would we make the same choice?

In America, it is easy for Christians to settle into complacency with our faith. Living in a land where too much isn’t enough, too often we take the opposite attitude in our walk with God. Instead of being spiritually driven, we often get caught up in a shallow appearance-based Christianity.

It’s easy to get comfortable in our weekly routines of going to church, doing our devotions and posting the occasional Bible verse on Facebook or Twitter. But as soon as a trial enters our life, we wonder if God is good or why He has brought a trial into our life. Instead of saying, “Teach me, God,” we think, “Why, God?”

But God didn’t call us to become comfortable in our faith. As soon as we become complacent in our walk with God, our faith becomes useless. When we become complacent, the focus turns off of God and onto ourselves.

The purpose of our faith isn’t for us to settle into a place where we feel comfortable; we should never stop trusting God to lead us and teach us through the storms of life as well as the calm days of life.

Being comfortable with where we are in our Christian walks should raise a red flag. 2 Timothy 3:12 says that all faithful Chrisitans will be persecuted. We need to constantly strive to become more like our Creator through the hard-hitting, challenging lessons. We need to ask ourselves if our faith is like that of persecuted Christians. Would we be quick to deny Christ in order to settle back into our comfortable lives? Are you willing to give up everything for the cause of Christ?