Adversity

“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.”

2 Corinthians 4:16 (ESV)

There is a kind of adversity that arrives after you thought you had already survived the hardest chapters. You did the work. You endured. You stayed faithful. And yet here you are again facing loss, uncertainty, or pain you did not plan for.

This adversity often carries grief. Grief for the life you expected. Grief for relationships that changed. Grief for the version of yourself that had more energy, more certainty, more hope.

Paul does not deny the reality of suffering. He names it and then points to something deeper. Renewal does not mean life gets easier. It means God is still working beneath the surface even when the outside feels worn and thin.

Adversity strips away the illusion of control. It exposes how much of our identity was tied to being needed or being strong for everyone else. When those roles shift, adversity asks who are you now.

Sketchy faith answers slowly. It says, I am still God’s. I am still becoming. I am still held even here.

This suffering is not wasted. God is renewing you in ways that comfort never could.

Personal action:

Write down one area of adversity you are facing and speak this truth aloud: God is renewing me, even here.

Alycia Neighbours