You call this light?

For the last couple of days I have been wrestling with a passage in 2nd Corinthians 4:17 which says "For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison as we look NOT to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen..." My first response was..."WHAT? You calling my affliction Light and Momentary?"

I even studied this passage in its original language hoping that I would get more understanding and to my dismay I found the words "immediate" and "insignificant" which if anything are even MORE harsh! So Paul, are you saying that all the distress and affliction we experience on this earth is simply immediate and insignificant?

What about divorce?
What about persecution?
What about death? (All things I have experienced firsthand...)
Are these Light (immediate) and Momentary(insignificant) too?

In comparison to the great divorce between God and lost souls, the persecution Jesus experienced by His own people, and the death he endured carrying the sins of this world on His back...Our affliction IS pretty light and momentary:) Not to mention we are rewarded for it! This passage tells us when we endure this "affliction" (on earth) which is by definition light and momentary, it prepares for us a eternal weight of glory (in heaven)... I'll take that:)