When the Body Fails but the Soul Grows Strong: An Eternal Perspective on Suffering (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

There’s something uniquely difficult about physical suffering. Pain, weakness, and aging can leave us discouraged. Satan understood this well. After taking everything from Job—his possessions and children—he still believed he hadn’t touched the area that mattered most. “Stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face” (Job 2:4-5). And yet, Job didn’t curse God. The apostle Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 that while “our outer self is wasting aw...