I think the view you take of salvation can have a lot to do with your growth.  I mean if every day you can take a moment to reflect and say--HEY HE CHOSE ME!!!  and try to muster up some thankfulness for that even in the worst of trials--what would the results be?  On the other hand, if salvation is something you chose to believe in one day then couldn't it be affected by feelings of other sorts?  Say doubt creeps in, etc.  What then? 

For me, it is comforting to read through the Bible and see all along that we are vessels chosen for His use.  To read about other chosen vessels who failed, yet God was still able to use them.  Abraham, for example--Oh this is my SISTER Sarah!  Now if Abraham always had the faith he was famous for--wouldn't he have introduced Sarah as his wife every time --knowing that God would take care of both of them?