The Broken Way by Ann Voskamp
Week 9: Chapter 8 — The Way Through Suffering
Read Chapter 8 of The Broken Way. Key passages: 1 Peter 4:12–13; Colossians 1:24.
Previewing Week 9 of The Broken Way
Read 3 of 7 discussion questions below. Unlock the complete 11-week guide when you’re ready.
In one of the most theologically dense chapters, Voskamp takes on the hardest pastoral question: is there a way to suffer that is not just endured but actually redeemed — and if so, what does that look like?
Discussion Questions
7 questions1.Voskamp references Colossians 1:24 — Paul's mysterious claim that he 'fills up in his flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions' — and argues that human suffering, offered to Christ, can participate in His redemptive work. How do you understand that verse? Does it comfort you or trouble you?
2.She draws on her visit to the Syrian refugee camp to press the question of solidarity: what does it mean to stand with people in their suffering when you cannot fix it? How does physical, embodied presence change anything?
3.Voskamp is careful to say that suffering is not good in itself — only God's presence in it and God's redemption of it make it anything other than tragedy. How does that nuance matter? Have you ever heard suffering glorified in a way that felt spiritually abusive rather than life-giving?