A Grace Disguised by Jerry Sittser
Week 11: Chapter 10 — The Unexpected Gift
Read Chapter 10 of A Grace Disguised.
Want the full guide for A Grace Disguised?
Free Week 1 sample in 5 min · $24.99 for all 14 weeks · 7-day refund
Sittser turns to the book's most surprising claim: that loss, when truly entered, becomes a strange and unexpected gift — not instead of grief, but within it.
Discussion Questions
8 questions1.The title of the book itself — *A Grace Disguised* — comes to its fullest expression here. What does Sittser mean by calling his loss a "grace disguised"? How is this different from saying "everything happens for a reason" or "God needed another angel"?
2.He reflects on specific gifts that came through his loss — deeper relationships, a richer inner life, a greater capacity for compassion, a more honest faith. Which of these surprises you most? Which seems most hard-won?
3.Sittser is careful to say that he would not trade his wife, mother, and daughter for these gifts — that the gifts do not justify the loss. How does he hold that tension? Is it possible to receive the good that came from suffering without implying that the suffering itself was good?
a.Have you ever received an unexpected gift through a painful experience? What was the gift, and did receiving it feel like a betrayal of the pain?
b.How does Romans 8:28 — "all things work together for good" — speak to this tension? What does it promise, and what does it not promise?
You're on Week 11 of 14
Don't lose momentum — get the rest of A Grace Disguised
All 112 questions across 14 weeks, with closing prayers and a downloadable PDF for your group.
One-time purchase · 7-day refund · Covers your whole group