Review of A Path Through Suffering by Elisabeth Elliot

Dear friends gave me this book as a Christmas present a few weeks ago.  Many people would probably think to themselves “oh, goody! …a book on suffering…just what I always wanted for the holidays!”  Those who truly know me know that the holidays are a form of suffering to me all their own.  Despite my winter melancholia, I don’t despise mirth and jollility like a Grinch, but rather fear situations where the expectations of happiness are super high.  Perhaps it is just performance anxiety, but I digress.  But all levity aside, I’d like to recommend this book to everyone. 

We live in a culture than likes to avoid, mask, and deny all suffering, yet look around any room of people and you see suffering people.  If it isn’t broken health, it’s a broken heart or mind or faith or family.  The author Elisabeth Elliot, who has certainly experienced her own journey with suffering, guides us gently and compassionately to the conclusion that while our pain and suffering are certainly real and by no means enjoyable, it seems to be God’s most useful tool to bring about his design for the shape of our soul.  The promise of the book is a path through suffering and what she does is show us that since suffering is universal to the human experience, what is important is how we suffer, not whether we will suffer.

Some of the wisdom that I found most helpful in this book was having the right perspective on my suffering and the reality that patient endurance usually outlasts anything we are going through.  I also appreciated her point that in suffering relationships sometimes the only constructive thing we can do is keep a close watch on our reactions to the other person and continually choose to forgive them when they hurt us.  She also makes a point that there is a temptation that comes with suffering to turn completely inward and this is the antithesis of God’s plan for us.  Having a focus outside of ourselves and what God is doing in this world frequently ameliorates our own momentary pain.  Another area she addresses is when we are doing good things for the Lord and then seemingly in a moment all our work is swept away or we are sidelined.  This, she asserts, is rarely chastisement, but rather the pruning the Lord does to accomplish even greater fruitfulness.  The vine’s perspective is pain and loss, but the vinedresser knows that in the cutting away, room is made for greater growth and productivity.

I think the author is successful in showing us the way through suffering is not an escape route but a journey into understanding the sufferings of Christ more deeply and recognizing that as members of his body we continue his suffering as needed to accomplish the fulfillment of His glorious kingdom.