Suffering Is Never for Nothing by Elisabeth Elliot
Week 1: Chapter 1 — The Gift Nobody Wants
Read Chapter 1 of Suffering Is Never for Nothing. Key Scripture: Romans 8:18; 2 Corinthians 4:17.
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Elisabeth Elliot opens by refusing to soften suffering into something more palatable — she wants us to look at it honestly before she says a single word of comfort. Let these questions help you do the same.
Discussion Questions
7 questions1.Elliot begins with the blunt observation that suffering is universal — it comes for everyone, with no real exemptions for the faithful. Does that feel like a relief to you, or does it feel like an unfair starting point? Why?
2.She describes suffering as 'the gift nobody wants.' What does she mean by calling it a gift? At this stage of the book, does that framing strike you as true, offensive, or somewhere in between?
3.Elliot draws a sharp contrast between two possible responses to suffering: it can devastate and destroy, or it can become a gateway to gratitude and joy. What, in her view, determines which direction suffering takes a person?
a.Can you think of two people you know — one whose suffering has seemed to open them up, and one whose suffering has seemed to close them down? What differences do you notice?
b.Where do you honestly feel you are on that spectrum right now?
4.Elliot is careful not to offer a clean intellectual explanation for why suffering exists. Why do you think she makes that choice at the outset? What does it tell you about the kind of book this is going to be?
5.She speaks from her own biography without dwelling on it for sympathy. How does knowing the basic outline of her story — Jim's murder, her second husband's death from cancer — affect the way you receive her words? Does her credibility on this subject change how you listen?
6.What is the one thing Elliot says is non-negotiable for transforming suffering rather than being destroyed by it? How does that connect to the book's subtitle and central argument?
7.How does Elliot's opening chapter connect to Paul's claim in Romans 8:18 that 'the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed'? Does Paul's argument feel more or less credible after reading Elliot's framing?
Closing Prayer
Lord, we confess that when suffering comes we usually want an explanation first and faith second. We want to understand before we trust. Elliot has reminded us today that suffering is not a puzzle to be solved but a cup to be received. Would You give us the honesty to look at what is actually in our cups right now — without minimizing it and without despairing over it — and the first fragile willingness to believe that it is not for nothing? For the sake of Jesus, who drank a cup we could never have survived. Amen.
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