Is there something that seems to be working against you today—time, health, money, opportunity, people? Sometimes it's easy to feel that everything and everyone is against us. We know we're supposed to trust God, but it's hard to understand why He would allow our circumstances to become so difficult and confusing.

A friend of mine who has experienced many setbacks offered a fresh look at the role of our difficulties. He emphasized a single word in a familiar passage: "Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (2 Cor. 4:17).

"We think our afflictions are working against us," my friend said, "but God says they are working for us. They're producing a glory that will last forever. Compared to our trials, the glory is always greater. That's why we don't lose heart."

From God's perspective, our deepest disappointments and sorrows are "but for a moment." It's difficult for us to accept this while we are in the midst of our trials, but we can trust the word of our kind and loving Father.

It's amazing to know that God can take the things that seem to be against us and cause them to work for us. By faith, we can embrace His perspective today.   — David C. McCasland