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Old building with water trough, Great Smoky Mountains, North Carolina. Photo by Charles F. Stanley.
Daily Devotion

A Burden or a Bridge

Adversity can be a burden we carry or a bridge to a glorious future.

November 7, 2025

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

How would you describe adversity? As Christians, we have the opportunity to see it as a bridge leading to an eternal future.

Our perspective is the determining factor in how we view hardship. If we focus only on the negative, we’ll be drawn into despair. But if we look at problems from an eternal standpoint, our thinking will be transformed in three ways: 

  1. We won’t lose heart, because we know we’re being renewed from within. As we respond in submission to whatever God allows in our life and trust in His good purposes, our character is shaped into Christlikeness and our hope is restored.

  2. The Lord will give us strength to endure. Paul said he was afflicted, perplexed, persecuted, struck down, and constantly threatened with death, yet he called it all “light and momentary” compared to eternity (2 Cor. 4:8-11; 2 Cor. 4:17 NIV).

  3. Let’s not view adversity as a thief of all joy and a hindrance to a good life. Instead, we should look beyond the present to what the trial is producing for us—“an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison” (v. 17).

Viewing troubles through an eternal lens is an act of faith. It increases our trust in God, gives us greater passion, and strengthens us to victoriously cross the bridge of adversity.

Bible in One Year: John 17-19

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