2 Corinthians / Question
Paul contrasts "this light momentary affliction" with an "eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison." He says the focus is on what is unseen and eternal rather than what is seen and temporary. See 2 Corinthians 4:17–18.
In 2 Corinthians 4:16–18, Paul explains why he and his coworkers do not give up. Even as their bodies weaken, something inside them is being renewed each day. He reframes suffering as brief and comparatively light, yet producing an outsized and lasting “weight” of glory. These verses conclude a longer stretch where Paul describes his ministry as fragile people carrying a valuable message, so that the power is clearly not from them (4:7–12).
Paul’s claim is not that hardship is unreal, but that it can be re-evaluated when placed next to a larger horizon (verse 17–18). The passage holds together two simultaneous experiences: bodily decline (“outward”) and ongoing renewal (“inward”), described as happening “day by day” (verse 16).
A common mistake is to turn the wording into a slogan. The better reading keeps the phrase tied to the passage, the speaker, and the problem the book is addressing.
Start with 2 Corinthians 4:17-18, then read the surrounding section so the answer stays connected to the passage's flow.
17For our light affliction, which is for the moment, works for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory;
18while we don`t look 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.