In 1967, seventeen-year-old Joni Eareckson dove into shallow water and broke her neck. In a single moment, the athletic teenager became a quadriplegic, unable to use her hands or legs.

During two difficult years of rehabilitation, Joni wrestled with anger, depression, doubt, and thoughts of suicide. Her circumstances did not quickly improve. In fact, she would spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair.

Yet Joni’s accident did not destroy her life. Through faith, she learned to paint with a brush held between her teeth, became a gifted author and speaker, and founded Joni and Friends, a ministry serving people with disabilities worldwide.

Joni’s story reminds us that faith does not remove every affliction, but affliction does not have to crush our faith. Her life vividly illustrates Paul’s testimony in today’s text:

“We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Cor. 4:8–9).

Paul’s words do not deny the reality of suffering—problems and persecution, trials and tribulation. As the title of Harold Kushner’s well-known book reminds us, When Bad Things Happen to Good People.

Yet these verses affirm that suffering does not have to have the final word. Four times Paul acknowledges the painful reality, and four times he answers it with two defiant words: “but not.”

Paul’s ministry and the obstacles he overcame provide help, hope, and assurance as we face our own challenges.

#1 Pressure Cannot Defeat Us

Was Paul afflicted? Obviously, he suffered from a thorn in the flesh (2 Cor. 12:7–10). He experienced loss, heartache, rejection, and adversity. He was afflicted physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

“But,” Paul says, “I am not crushed.”

There will be seasons in our Christian lives when we feel pressed by disappointment, sickness, sorrow, and adversity. But, like Paul, we can “press on.” God provides the strength to keep pressure from crushing our faith (Ps. 46:1; John 16:33).

#2 Confusion Cannot Consume Us

At times, the apostle was perplexed. Baffled. Befuddled. Really? Yes, he said so.

We can only imagine Paul’s perplexity when brethren initially questioned his conversion, when people rejected the gospel, when John Mark left the mission, or when Demas forsook him.

Yet Paul did not allow perplexity to descend into despair.

Sometimes we do not understand what God is doing—or why He allows certain things to happen. Faith does not always provide immediate answers, but it gives us Someone to trust when answers do not come (Prov. 3:5–6; Rom. 8:28).

#3 Opposition Cannot Separate Us

Paul was opposed by Judaizing teachers, false teachers, and haters of God. He experienced criticism, rejection, and ridicule. Yet persecution never meant that God had forsaken him. Thus, he could confidently say, “None of these things move me” (Acts 20:24).

Following Christ may bring opposition from family, friends, coworkers, neighbors, and sadly, sometimes even our own brethren. While people may abandon us, God never will. His presence is often most precious when we feel most alone (Heb. 13:5–6; Rom. 8:35–39).

#4 Setbacks Cannot Destroy Us

Paul had his share of setbacks. He was beaten, stoned, and imprisoned. In some cities, people drove him out. Not everyone obeyed the gospel. Not every convert remained faithful.

Yet Paul said we may be struck down, but we are not destroyed.

Life may knock us down through failure, loss, grief, or unexpected tragedy. But being knocked down is not the same as being destroyed. By God’s grace, we can rise, recover, and continue our journey.

Perhaps the secret of Paul’s steadfast endurance is found near the end of the chapter:

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, “While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:16–18).

Paul looked beyond the outward and focused on the inward. He regarded his affliction as light when compared with the eternal weight of glory. He looked beyond what was seen to what was unseen and placed his hope in the eternal instead of the temporal.

No matter what challenges life throws at us, they cannot crush, consume, separate, or destroy us when our faith is in God and we rely on His strength.

The Christian life is not defined merely by what happens to us, but by what God does within us when it happens.

–Ken Weliever, The Preacherman