Suffering is one thing we wish we could avoid but never can. It’s the inescapable reality of life. While sitting with a friend going through a particularly difficult season, he said to me, “I feel like I’m running a miserable marathon I didn’t sign up for.” Suffering has a way of making you feel like you are losing the race and on the brink of quitting.

In 2 Corinthians 4:16–18, Paul establishes a different perspective on suffering. These burdens aren’t just weighing us down in the present; they are actively preparing us for an eternal weight of glory. Your suffering, then, is purposeful, and God is working in it. If that is true, then we can reshape our view of suffering to see that the Lord is working within it for good.  So whatever challenge may lie ahead, keep your eyes focused on the Savior who is our hope. 

Do Not Lose Heart

If you feel like you are losing heart today, you are in good company. Scripture tells us, “For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now” (Romans 8:22, ESV). We groan under the weight of this broken world; of marriages that fail, bodies that fall apart, and hope that seems to unravel. Yet God does not leave us there. 

Second Corinthians 4:16 (ESV) begins with a bold declaration: “So we do not lose heart.” Amid his current afflictions and trials that he vividly describes a few verses earlier, Paul makes a stunning remark when he says, “so we do not lose heart.” Sometimes we can view sentences like this as some motivational speech of self-reliance to grit your way through pain. But, seen through the frame of Scripture, it can reshape our entire view of our suffering.

The reason that we do not lose heart is not founded on anything we have done, are doing, or will do. If so, each of us would have failed long ago. Rather, we should not lose heart because Christ is the hope of our lives and all power abides in Him. This is the gospel shift, because it’s here that we realize the power we so desperately want is found in Christ. So when you feel like all hope is lost, look to Christ who is sovereignly ruling. 

To not lose heart is to rest in the truth that our hope isn’t tied to our ability to hold on to God, but His refusal to let go of us. If He can take the darkest Friday known to man and turn it into the brightest Sunday in human history, we can trust Him to handle our dark days. 

The Great Exchange

Paul’s honesty is sobering. In verse 17, he acknowledges that our outer self is wasting away. We experience this wasting in many ways—from the physical toll of illness to the emotional exhaustion of life, inevitable aging, and the mental fatigue of living in a broken world. If our outer self is like a tent, then we will experience the winds of decay sweeping through the camp. 

While our outer self is wasting away, the wonderful reality is that our inner self is being renewed day by day in Christ. So when you wonder if the suffering you experience is meaningless, remember that the Spirit is actively renewing you. The seed of a flower must crack and break so that life may break through. This life is found in Christ, by Christ, and through Christ.

Our suffering is never wasted because God uses the cracks of our outer lives to let the light of His salvation shine through. This renewal is seen as we find ourselves more dependent on Scripture day by day; when we become more reliant on prayer; when we open our Bibles rather than our phones. 

One day, if we have run this race well, Jesus will look at us and say, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21). In that moment, He will usher us into eternity with Him in a place where there is no more wasting away. No more tears, no more suffering, no more pain. What a glorious day that will be. When we live in light of this reality, it’s worth it. This is a great exchange.

The Divine Scales

Paul continues by saying that these sufferings are a “light momentary affliction.” There are key moments in my life (and yours, too) that are defined by suffering. Sitting in the doctor’s office hearing the diagnosis. Sitting in the ICU room, asking God to spare a life. Walking through the difficult process of caring for aging parents. In each of these, I remember feeling the sting and wondering how any suffering could be light and momentary because, in the moment, they are anything but that. 

Imagine a balance scale in front of you. On one side is all your suffering on this side of eternity. Every painful, heavy burden we have is on the scale. The full weight of the anxious nights, the tears shed, and the crushing losses are all placed on this scale. Yet compared to the span of eternity, even a life of turmoil and struggle is but a vapor. Here one moment and gone the next. What feels endless now is already bound by time. 

On the other end of the scale is the “eternal weight of glory.” It’s solid, substantial, and weighty. While the troubles of this world are but passing shadows, the glory of the Lord is the unfading substance that will last. The wonderful reality of the gospel shows us that these two sides of the scale work together in unison. The suffering you endure is preparing you for eternal reward. While you suffer now, the eternal reward from your Heavenly Father is waiting in glory, and not a single second of your suffering is wasted. 

The Unseen Reality

Early in ministry, I was called to the home of a family who had just lost their father. While sitting in their living room, the silence was deafening. I let them grieve, but I truly had no idea what to say. I simply sat there and prayed with them and said nothing else. When the time came for me to go, I felt like a failure. I imparted no wisdom to them about how to process grief. While I felt like a failure, I later learned just how much my presence meant to them. In moments of pain, we don’t always need information or for someone to lecture us. We need Jesus. Nothing on this side of heaven can truly lessen your pain besides Him. We can and should rest in His sovereign presence. So we must continually remind ourselves to look to Jesus in all circumstances.

To look at “seen” things is to dwell upon the realities of this broken world. To look at the “unseen” is to dwell upon the beauty of our Savior. He is beautiful because He is Sovereign and He is enough. The weight of glory, Christian, is not just a reward we wait for in heaven; it’s the current presence of Jesus in your situation. When we can view it through these lenses, everything changes and we see how our light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory. 

Conclusion

I want you to imagine with me for a moment, the day you finally step out of the shadow of this life and into the substance of eternity within the Lord’s presence. In the moment, you will look back at the ICU rooms, the weary prayers, and the seasons of mental fatigue that felt like they would never end. Then, you will see the divine scales come to a rest. In that instance, you will see that while your outer self was being stripped away, God was busy renewing your inner self moment by moment and preparing for you joy that will never leave. Your suffering is never meaningless; it is purposeful. So do not lose heart.

Author Bio:

Matt Duckett serves as the Lead Pastor at First Southern Baptist Church in Lawrence, Kansas. He is passionate about seeing lives transformed by the life-changing message of the gospel. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Sarah, and their two sons. He enjoys coffee, reading, and quality time with his family.

Additional Resources for Difficult Seasons:

Job		Faith Questions - Suffering		What Did You Expect?		Never Alone Bible Study
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