Most, if not all of us, are going through some kind of hardship. Some difficulties, we admit to friends and/or family with whom we are close. Some difficulties we hide from those around us, sure that they wouldn’t understand. Sometimes we hide because our difficulties are an embarrassment, such as a struggle with sin or difficulties with family members. Sometimes we hide because we don’t think anyone around us would understand. Most of the time we hide because we feel like we are the only one struggling, which is rarely the case. All of us have experienced some kind of hardship. Most of us have experienced multiple kinds of hardship. This is normal. Doubts are normal. Frustration is normal. Failures are normal. The biggest problem with hardship is how our minds deal with it. Do you turn to God and ask Him to help carry your burden and change your heart, or do you withdraw from God and the body of Christ? Do you struggle to do what is right, and when you fail, give up and go with the flow? Does your mind dwell on your failures, your hardship, and how others have what you don’t, or does your mind dwell on how God chose you, loves you, died for you, and has the desire and power to help you through all of your hardships? Do you dwell on what you don’t have or what blessings you do have?

We are destroying arguments and all arrogance raised against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, (2 Corinthians 10:5) {emphasis mine} Most of the time, the biggest problem isn’t our situation, although that can be extremely difficult, but it is how we view our hardship and God. We are told to take “every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” It is amazing how two people can go through the same situation. One can live in utter fear and despair, while the other can live in joy and peace. The difference isn’t the external situation. The difference is the internal focus of the heart and mind of the one suffering. The difference is caused by which voice we are listening to. Do you think God owes you an easy and comfortable life, or do you expect suffering that leads to growth? Do you view your suffering as limiting what you can do, or do you view your suffering as enabling you to minister to others? Do you view your hardship as unfair treatment or as a means of growth?

• Do you listen to yourself? Does your mind dwell on what you don’t have, on how unfair things are, and on how you have been mistreated?
• Do you listen to the accuser—Satan? Do you dwell on how bad you are and how you always fail? Do you dwell on how God and others have wronged you?
• Do you listen to God and His Word? Do you dwell on how the Creator of the universe loved you so much that He died to take away your sins and to fix your relationship with Him? Do you dwell on how God uses hardship to grow your faith and your faithfulness? Do you dwell on how God uses hardship to enable you to minister to others who are also suffering?

We all hear all three voices occasionally, but which voice leads the conversation? It makes all of the difference in how you view hardship. When you listen to your selfish needs or listen to the accuser, hardship truly feels like the end of the world. When you listen to God and His Word, the same hardship can feel like a light affliction. Paul says:

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. (Romans 8:18) He also says: For our momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, (2 Corinthians 4:17) Paul is not speaking in a theoretical or intellectual manner. He knows suffering. He had people continually trying to put him to death (and eventually the succeeded). He was beaten three times with rods. He was shipwrecked three times. He was stoned and left for dead. He was attacked verbally, personally, physically, and judicially. Despite suffering more than most of us can imagine, he considered it just a “light affliction” in light of the eternal glory he would one day receive. The difference for us is whether we focus on our momentary comfort or our eternal situation. Let’s look at a larger portion of the 2 Corinthians 4 passage for more context and information. Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer person is decaying, yet our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18) How can we change our perspective so that our unbearable hardship can seem like a light affliction?

1. “Do not lose heart” – Your circumstances may be horribly difficult, but do not lose heart. With God, all things are possible. If you have trusted Jesus as Savior, God is working through your circumstances to do a good work on and through you.
2. “Our outer person is decaying, yet our inner person is being renewed” – As we age, this becomes more and more obvious, but our physical and/or mental decline of our physical body does not have any link to the state of our soul. The person with physical impairments (which make that person unable to do anything physically) may have the healthiest soul, and the person who seems to have a body with no impairment may have a dead soul. What matters is the state of our soul.
3. “Our momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory” – Hardship today produces growth in Jesus. One day, when we are in our heavenly bodies and are in the presence of our Savior and Creator, we will look back and barely notice or even be thankful for every hardship we ever had to endure.
4. “We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen” – Our focus needs to be on spiritual matters and not the physical ones. When men lowered a paralytic down in front of Jesus, what did He do first? He forgave the man’s sins. His spiritual situation was the most critical problem. Jesus then healed the man to prove to the witnesses that He truly had the power and right to forgive sins. His foremost concern was for the spiritual state of the man. The people around Him could only see the physical state of the man.
5. “The things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” – It is so hard for our finite minds to focus on what is eternal rather than what is happening in the moment, but God does help us to see as He sees. Our focus should be on how circumstances affect eternity and not just on how they affect our current comfort.

I say all of this as something that is simple. It isn’t complicated, but that doesn’t mean it is easy. When we have a habit of listening to our own voice saying, “How can I get through this?” or “Why do I always mess up?” it is not easy to change our habitual way of thinking. When we have a habit of listening to the accuser saying, “You are a failure.” or “God keeps mistreating you.” it isn’t easy to take captive our thoughts and turn them into “My Creator loves me enough to die for me.” and “God promises to use this hardship to grow me and prepare me for an eternity with Him.” Changing your whole thought pattern isn’t easy, but it can be done, especially when you pray earnestly for help from God. He wants you to love and follow Him. He wants you to grow in faith and righteousness. He wants the best for you, but He looks at what is best eternally and not what is easiest in the moment. God is with you in all situations if you have trusted in Jesus as your Savior. Do not lose hope. Trust Jesus If you do not yet know Jesus, I beg you to trust in Him. Below are some verses that will tell you what you need to know to be saved. If you have any questions, I’d love to answer them. Just message me on Substack.

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (Romans 3:23) . For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23) . But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8) . that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; (Romans 10:9) . If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. (1 John 1:9-10) . For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39) . He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21) . But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:12-13) All verses are NASB unless otherwise noted.