Thanks Papa-pepper.
When people make it out that Christianity is easy, or a crutch, I always think you dont know what Jesus called us to, and you dont know what it means to pick up your cross and follow, nor how clear the bible is with respect to the fact that suffering is expected and more surprisingly we are to endure with a joyful heart. Not by our will but by the encouragement and lifting up of the Lord.

Romans 5:3-4
we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,