Limping Heavenward: Living by Faith in Comprehensive and Chronic Suffering

by Karrie Hahn

How do Christians endure suffering that upends every aspect of life—perhaps permanently? Comprehensive and chronic suffering can assault our faith, strain our relationships, and leave others in the church unsure how to help. A shaky theology of suffering—others’ or our own—only compounds our hurt.

In this honest, direct, and compassionate guide, Karrie Hahn tackles the hard What does affliction reveal about who God is and how he relates to us? How can we move forward when we are devastated by pain? She helps sufferers keep walking by faith—and equips other believers to walk with them for the long haul.

Endorsements“Hahn weaves her harrowing story of suffering with the rich treasures of Scripture, keeping her steady and determined gaze on Jesus Christ.”

—Jonathan D. Holmes, Executive Director, Fieldstone Counseling

“A deeply compassionate and theologically rich guide that offers comfort, understanding, and practical help. . . . An invaluable resource for those who seek to support [sufferers] with grace and understanding.”

—Shannon Kay McCoy, Counselor, Speaker, Author

“Biblically and theologically grounded. . . . [This is a book] for those who need encouragement to keep going when everything hurts and hope seems remote.”

—Chris Larson, President & CEO, Ligonier Ministries

“Hahn offers dignity to those who bear the soul-crushing weight of comprehensive and chronic affliction. . . . This book is a lifeline for those who feel forgotten—and for the church that is called to love them.”

—Darby Strickland, Faculty, Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation; Author, When It’s Trauma

“If you experience ongoing suffering and have struggled to find relatable help, this book is for you. Karrie Hahn has much hard-earned wisdom to share. Filled with nuanced discussion and thoughtful insights drawn from Scripture, Limping Heavenward will encourage a fuller, more hopeful perspective as you live with comprehensive suffering.”

—Esther Smith, Author, A Still and Quiet Mind

“Limping is often the right word to describe the journey heavenward for those entangled in the world of chronic pain and illness. This book takes no shortcuts and refuses to skirt around the jagged rocks on the path. It’s honest, and its honesty and faithfulness are a welcome light in the darkness.”

—Nate Brooks, Author, Disrupted Journey

Genres: Nonfiction, Christian, Audiobook, Christianity

200 pages, Paperback

Published August 6, 2025

Reviews

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read a lot of books on suffering in the past couple years, and most of them have been helpful in one way or another. Hahn has likely read all the same books, and she sets out to address a specific circumstance that most of the other books do not: that of chronic and comprehensive suffering. She takes a hard look at the sort of suffering that encompasses multiple areas of a person's life (health, relationships, finances, etc) and is not just "a hard season" but lasts for years and decades and lifetimes.

Hahn doesn't shy away from the realities of that sort of suffering, doesn't try to sugarcoat things or offer hollow truths, but for the sufferer she offers encouragement that is grounded in scripture, and for the friend offers suggestions for how to meaningfully support someone who is living a life of chronic and comprehensive suffering.

[Sandi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super! Tremendously encouraging. This book might be one of the most encouraging books I have read about the Christian walk; compassionately showing the reader how to anchor their soul to the truth and promises of God, thereby making hope truly accessible to the weak and fainthearted.

The specific target audience of this book is for those in chronic and comprehensive suffering. Karrie is clear to define and explain what she means as she uses those phrases when she states the target audience of her book:

“This book is specifically targeted to those who
feel stuck or overwhelmed by their comprehensive and chronic suffering;
struggle to believe that God is good and that His Word is true in light of their circumstances; and
Feel the absence of God and/or absence of His people in their time of greatest need.”

Outwardly, evaluating circumstances alone, my life is free should be free from suffering. Yet I struggle with anxiety. My mind is my battlefield. I know there is so much hope in the Bible for those who suffer, if only I could access that hope!? But alas, my circumstances are fine, so I tell myself, and I lack the prerequisites to access hope. Spiraling inward, and rebuking myself that I should have stronger faith, I despair when hope is out of my reach. But Karrie understands and addresses this inner anguish, and it is because of this I relate so much to her book and the hard questions she wrestles with.

”But these whats (the outward circumstances visible in suffering) are just the tip of the iceberg that lies beneath: how these external circumstances impact our emotions, minds, faith, and relationship to God. This internal anguish is much harder to explain to other people, because no matter what words we use, they feel inadequate to convey the gravity of the situation and the desolation of our soul.”

Karrie’s writing voice is different from other books. I have heard it said that a sure way to make a group of Christians feel guilty is to teach on prayer and evangelism. In the same vein, a sure way to rebuke a Christian is to teach anxiety. Are you flailing about with introspective doubt on the character of God? A Christian in that position is often first approached with rebuke. Trying to reach the weary and fainthearted with an extended arm of rebuke sets to two as opposing forces. This approach puts one on the victorious side and the other on the opposing side of the battle. Often when I am spiraling with introvertive focus, my unbelief is foremost in my mind. So when an author starts their argument by pointing out how your unbelief is keeping you from switching to the victorious side of the battle, it breaks my resolve and settles me inevitability into hopelessness.

“If we believe that God is for us and with us in our suffering, we can make it through anything. But if we lose the assurance that he is for us and with us—perhaps even wondering if he’s actively against us—then despair quickly sets in. After all, if the only One who really matters is no longer on our side, what hope do we have as we live each day with comprehensive and chronic suffering?”

But Karrie lovingly comes aside such a believer, enclosing her arm around their shoulders and first drawing them near. Her battle lines are not victorious Christians vs. suffering Christians, but rather fallen mankind vs. victorious Savior. She slows your sobbing and gets your ragged breath even, carefully tipping up your chin so that your gaze is no longer down on the spiraling circumstances of your life but rather up and at the glory of our Savior. By sharing her own honest questions of unbelief, she lives out the compassion of 2 Corinthians 1, and comforts her readers first.

With compassionate juxtaposition, Karrie comforts the weak and leads them towards a high view of God and sufficiency of Scripture. She writes, “Job’s greatest distress in all of his suffering was how it led to great anguish and confusion about God’s character and His posture toward Job.” It is because Karrie sees the inner anguish of the soul and addresses that first, it allows us to follow her lead as she teaches us to rejoice in hope even when our circumstances don’t change.

Here are some quotes from the book I highlighted which might help whet your appetite to go out and read this book for yourself. You will be blessed.

Thank you Karrie for writing this book. :)

*******

“‘Satan’s] lies are meant to damage and weaken our faith so that on the other side of our suffering (if there is another side) we will not love and serve [God] as we once did.’ We might say that, in his attempts to destroy our faith in the Lord, Satan is an artist. He sits before the easel with palette and brush in hand. His subject is God himself. He’s had a long time to perfect his craft, and he knows what will induce people to buy his work. God is good, but Satan paints him as cruel and uncaring. God is close to his children, but Satan paints him as distant. God desires our best, but Satan paints him as desiring our worst. God gives good gifts, but Satan paints him as withholding good gifts. God ordains grief and pain, but Satan paints him as delighting in our pain and motivated by a desire to see us suffer. God is compassionate, but Satan paints him as harsh. God’s ways are worth obeying, but Satan paints his ways as foolish and unsatisfying. Satan is a con artist. He sells us caricatures of God and seeks to convince us that each one is an accurate representation of reality.”

“There is no deeper affliction than the agony of soul we experience when we start wondering if God is not for us but against us. We thought that God was our friend, but in our crushing affliction, we start to wonder if he’s our enemy. We thought that God was good, but in our inexplicable suffering, we start to wonder if he’s a monster. We know what the Bible says, but our circumstances cause us to waver and stumble. Is God really for us, or has he turned against us?”

“A defining feature of this struggle is the force with which it assaults our perception and experience of who God is, who we are, and how we relate to him. Because the nature of this struggle involves laboring to understand who God is and how that relates to our circumstances in deeper ways, it is rarely helpful to sufferers when people simply quote Bible verses at them and expect that to instantly fix the “problem.” “

“Therefore, our greatest struggle in comprehensive and chronic suffering is to persevere as we continue speaking to the God who feels so absent, so hostile, so different from who we once experienced him as. It is a process of walking by faith as we refuse to curse God or give up. It is a process of walking by faith as we refuse to curse God or give up.”

“Hope can hurt, and so we can be tempted to kill it. When we try to keep going amid chronic suffering, praying and hoping that God will bring temporal relief and restoration, we can become disillusioned, discouraged, depressed, or despairing when nothing changes.”

[Amanda (aebooksandwords) · Rating 4 out of 5]

“What do we do when our lives feel like a story that God just got tired of writing and abandoned midcourse?”

In this book, we come face-to-face with the questions that come to our minds in comprehensive or chronic suffering. Written by someone who has faced ongoing suffering in many areas of life, this book offers companionship to others whose lives have been upended more intensely than most, and also helps those who love them understand the depth to which they are suffering.

The book addresses questions often asked in times of immense suffering, such as:

• Am I doing something wrong?
• Does God really care about me?
• Why do some believers experience much worse or lengthier suffering than others?
• Why do some others never (or rarely) seem to experience great suffering?

These are often questions we who suffer can be afraid to voice beyond our own hidden moments. By covering such tender areas and pairing them alongside Scripture that tells of those like Job, this book is apt to deeply minister to the heart of the believer who is suffering.

For those witnessing to the suffering of others, she writes:

“We must also recognize that suffering people are on a journey with the Lord through deep and dark valleys. . . forced to confront biblical truths in new ways . . . trying to reconcile familiar, once-embraced truths with a horrendous experience of ongoing suffering. . . So be patient with them as the Lord is patient with you.”

My Recommendation

I highly recommend this book for both those who are suffering and their loved ones, pastors, etc.

Sufferers: Read this one to feel seen, heard, and understood.
Others: Read and reference the parts that help you love those who are suffering.

Highlights

“In the race of faith, it doesn't matter how quickly we can run. It just matters that we keep moving in the right direction, toward the Lord, and that we don't give up.”

“What often tips the scales from suffering’s being bearable to unbearable is the degree to which we feel seen, heard, supported, helped, and loved by others in our deep distress.”

When God’s sovereignty . . . is treated as though it’s the only reality at play in our suffering, an unfortunate consequence, is that malice . . . can also be attributed to God along with his sovereignty. In other words, an incomplete view of Satan‘s involvement and suffering can confuse suffers by wrongly putting God‘s face on Satan‘s malice”

“Just because we have experienced a sense of God’s silence and absence doesn’t mean that we don’t belong to him, that he doesn’t care, that he’s not listening, or that he’s not there.”

[Clay Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a quick read that all Christians should prioritize. Most will see this title and think it is written just for those unfortunate ones that experience suffering. That mentality is why this book is necessary. When a believer goes through a period of chronic suffering, the Body of Christ (the true church) should surround them with support and love. Instead, the Body tends to cause more harm than the non-believers in our lives. This book does provide great reminders of biblical truth for those in suffering but also is a clarion call to everybody else to wake up and realize there are those in your family of Christ that don't live the same existence as you. They aren't going on constant vacations. Life isn't a party for them. It's a struggle and when you constantly throw the greatness of your life in their face it hurts. It shows them that you don't get it and that, ultimately, you don't care even if you think you do and say you do. All that to say that Christians should read this book. If you are suffering, it will lift you with biblical truths throughout. If you are not, it will help you see beyond yourself and your own immediate family to your fellow believer and it will help you know how to be a help, not a hindrance.

[Emily Lu · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I liked: thoughtful and sensitive. Captures the deepest pain, struggles, and frustrations of those who suffer with chronic illness. Gives us the wisdom we need to suffer well and the guidance to know how to best come alongside others.

What I want to remember: all of it.

There is “a time to weep” (Eccl. 3:4), and we need not be afraid to enter into such grief with others. If we desire to show Christlike care for sufferers, we must be willing to, in a sense, descend into the pit with them…Let us be sad with them and weep with them, lamenting the things that should be that are not and the things that are that should not be. Let us acknowledge with them that the world is broken and mourn that reality together as we await the triumphant return of our Lord Jesus.

[Chien-Wei Kung · Rating 5 out of 5]

A theologically rich and practical book replete with Scriptures. I know Karrie personally and what she has been through in life, and she indeed speaks from that experience, giving very helpful ways on what to do and what not to do to in our attempts to comfort those with comprehensive and chronic suffering. I was impressed and delighted by how she weaved Scripture into nearly every page, displaying her intimate understanding of God's Word. This is definitely a good book to meditate on if you know someone or yourself are going through a prolonged season of suffering and trial.

[Blue Morse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best book I’ve read on what the author refers to as “comprehensive and chronic suffering” or that kind of suffering which goes beyond a mere “season” of life, and negatively effects one’s physical health, finances, friendships, career, church, family, and home or sense of belonging.

More compelling than the book’s description of such suffering, is the practical advice to the church on how to come alongside those in the midst of this kind of suffering by being who we as the body of Christ are called to be: those who like our Savior, help to “heal the brokenhearted” and “bind up their wounds,” not merely offering up a prayer request or some quant Bible verses.

[Carissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a gift to the church—an honest and compassionate guide in chronic and comprehensive suffering. Karrie’s writing helped me learn how to better care for people devastated by suffering, looking for God’s light in dark places 🤍

[Ashlee Schmidt · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an excellent companion for those enduring comprehensive or chronic suffering! With tenderness, honesty, and hard-earned accord, Hahn offers hope to those whose lives have been unmoored by profound heartache and difficulty. She doesn’t shy away from addressing the messy realities of such great and long-lasting anguish, but instead guides the sufferer to a biblically faithful and intimate understanding of who God is for them in the midst of their suffering. This book is a gift both for those who suffer and for the ones who want to wisely and compassionately walk beside them.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really good book on suffering. It’s comprehensive, hopeful and deeply biblical. It’s applicable for the reader and for anyone who desires to help others who are suffering. So much hope and wisdom in this book. I especially appreciate the discussion the topic of lament. Probably a book I’ll read again and again. I heartily recommend!

[Alli Miller · Rating 4.75 out of 5]

This (audio)book understands reality in a broken world and pleads for the believer to be compassionately authentic with their (& others’) inevitable suffering, no matter the discomfort or pushback. While other books on suffering bode similar encouragement, Hahn doesn’t shy away from acknowledging and addressing the overwhelming feelings of “those who
-feel stuck in or overwhelmed by their comprehensive [r/t totality of impact] and chronic [r/t longevity] suffering,
-struggle to believe that God is good and that His Word is true in light of their circumstances,
-and feel the absence of God and/or the absences of His people in their time of greatest need.”
She sets a wonderful example of being present with sufferers by how she meets her audience in this book; it is obvious that she is comfortable existing in the tension of God’s mysterious work amidst suffering, and her lack of rushing through, her lack of avoiding, and her lack of rashly offering words of encouragement enable her words to land tenderly & to actually offer the encouragement that she intends by them. I felt so seen and understood and held as I listened! God does hear, and He does care, and He is not far; though, it often very much feels otherwise amidst suffering.

—-
Quotes:
“Suffering is like the human face. Though, we all have eyes, a nose, and a mouth, there’s endless variety to how each part is arranged, making us unique and setting us apart from others.”

“‘Suffering takes us to the borders of our faith. It leads us to think about things we’ve never thought about before and maybe even question things we thought were settled in our hearts.’ -Paul Tripp”

“Unhelpful Responses to Grief & examples of Jesus receiving these from others:
1. Accusation (wrongly accusing sin or claiming a sufferer’s spiritual deficiency / unsound mind as the source of one’s suffering) => creates pressure for the sufferer to live up to a super-human and, ultimately, superficial Christianity that admits no weakness, struggle, negative emotions, or doubts lest their faith or spiritual maturity be called into question; thus, compounding their miseries. Mark 3:21.
2. Aphorisms (covering over of uncomfortable, painful truths with biblical soundbites to attempt superficial comfort without attempting to listen, empathize, understand, help, comfort, or weep with them) => minimizes suffering, making it appear like a superficial problem that can be remedied with a superficial cure that requires little time, commitment, or relational connection. Matthew 16:22.
3. Abandonment (when people who were once close with a sufferer withdraw). John 6:66. Matthew 26:56.
4. Avoidance (holding a sufferer at arm’s length) => both 3&4 leave sufferers with a disorienting sense of shame - ‘did I do something wrong? Am I unworthy of care & support? Do they still want to be my friend?’ - making sufferers unsure of how they should interact with others in the body of Christ, making them second guess themselves — ‘did I share too much? Too little? Should I not be honest about my pain or my needs? Should I just try to get through this myself without bothering anyone?’. John 18:15-27.
5. Apathy (feeling compassion but never following through with action) => particularly painful when sufferers have done their due-diligence to make their suffering & their needs known because it’s hurtful & scary to be left to handle things on their own. Luke 22. Mark 10.”

“Sufferers must forgive foolish friends whose unhelpful responses have compounded their sorrows…. This doesn’t mean that sufferers can’t or shouldn’t have honest conversations with people about how they’ve been hurt by them. Its doesn’t mean that crimes perpetrated against them shouldn’t be reported to the appropriate authorities. It doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t exercise wisdom in the extent to which we engage or interact with certain people. But it does mean that sin is always crouching at the door, ready to consume us, even or especially in our suffering. By extending forgiveness, sufferers unburden their hearts from bitterness & hand over the gavel to the only true Judge, refusing to allow their suffering to be made worse by responding sinfully. It may take a lot of time, tears, & trusted counsel. And that’s okay. Over time, this forms us into the image of the Ultimate Job, our Lord Jesus Christ, who cried out in the days of His flesh to His Father, ‘Forgive them, for they know not what they do.’”

“We need to recognize Satan’s role in our suffering so that we can recognize the reality of our situation and respond appropriately. Compreshensive & chronic suffering can result in much mental confusion and anguish, making it hard to see clearly. Things become hazy and blur together, and it can be difficult to distinguish one thing from another. A proper understanding of Satan’s involvement in suffering can clarify the battlefield and help you avoid falling into the enemy’s traps. We’ve already noted that it’s not always possible to parse out what has to do with our own flesh and what has to do with the devil, since they’re often intertwined, but there is practical spiritual value in acknowledging that the hard thoughts about God that may be ricocheting in your head are not completely manufactured by your own flesh. Rather, Satan is exploiting your suffering, watering tiny seeds of doubt about God’s character with hopes you will ultimately turn away from Him…. It is not so much that Job is on the battlefield. Job is the battlefield.”

“It brings nobility, honor, and dignity to our suffering to know that, as we continue to cling to the Lord and refuse to curse Him, like Job, we have an opportunity to display to all the heavenly hosts — God, Satan, angles, demons — that God’s Word is true and that He’s worthy of our trust even when we’re in the midst of deeply painful circumstances and deeply anguished questions about who He is and what He is up to in our lives.”

“Suffering can tempt us to doubt what we once firmly believed and make hazy things that once seemed so clear in brighter days. Job, himself, experienced a painful dissonance of his understanding of God and his catastrophic circumstances.”

“God will appear to us through His Word, His Spirit, and His people, gradually but surely restoring our relationship to Him by bringing us into a deeper and more mature understanding of Himself. He will reach each of us in unique ways to reaffirm His character, and as a result, we will experience comfort in Him once again. This may not happen in such a big moment, but God promises us that none who wait for Him shall be put to shame (Ps 25:3).”

“You may become very aware of the fact that what is normal life for many of the Christians around you is nothing like your life. It might even become difficult to have casual conversations with other believers. Maybe you feel like a deer caught in the headlights when you’re asked about normal things that don’t apply to you at all and you can’t give the answers that people expect. When that happens - the place where we should feel like we belong the most, in the Church & among fellow believers - can become the place where we feel most different, most other, most out-of-place. It’s hard to put into words how draining & discouraging these experiences in the House of God are. How do we answer peoples’ questions or contribute to the group conversation when every else’s lives and concerns are so different from ours and we cannot relate to them in these ways. It’s not surprising, therefore, that those experiencing comprehensive suffering can be tempted to conclude that God is unkind in how He dispenses temporal blessings to His children…. That if they could only ‘figure it out,’ God would take them out of the corner. It’s also easy to see how sufferers feel that they simply don’t belong at church when conversations always seem to revolve around the differences between their lives and others’ lives. All this is why we must turn to Scripture to try to make sense of the painful question of inequity among believers in this life.”

“In Scripture, most obviously in Job, it is often the person favored by God who suffers. The term ‘favored’ here does not mean that people who suffer more are God’s favorites anymore than those who suffer less are His favorites. God does not play favorites among His children in the sense of loving some more and others less, but He does display various manifestations of His grace or favor, and that includes granting to some a deeper experience of suffering for the glory of God. (Phil 1:29). And while it may certainly not feel like favor for us in this life, the vantage point from eternity will prove that this is so.”

“Temporal affliction prepares future glory. Hope can hurt. So we can be tempted to kill it. When we try to keep going amid chronic suffering, praying and hoping that God will bring temporal relief and restoration, we can become disillusioned, discouraged, depressed, or despairing when nothing changes. And the truth is, our hopes for earthly improvements aren’t promised and may never materialize. If that’s the case, how can we ensure our earthly lives when relief and restoration are guaranteed only at our death?… what motivates us to keep going with any sense of purpose or hope?”

“This world and the next are not hermetically sealed off from each other. What happens now has implications for what will be then. That’s why we can endure this life - because it’s preparing future glory. Heaven isn’t a cosmic do-over that wipes everyone’s earthly slate clean and gives us all the exact same experiences, rewards, opportunities, and responsibilities in the New Heavens and the New Earth…. Right now counts forever. Everything that happens today has eternal significance. Our temporal affliction now is preparing us for future glory then. (2 Corin 4:16-17).”

“More weeping in this life will actually produce more rejoicing in the next.”

“Comprehensive and chronic suffering can strip us of dignity in many ways. Not in the sense that we lose our dignity as God’s image bearers but in the sense that our experience of living as image bearers with dignity has changed. The opposite of dignity - of being free to function fully as an image bearers of God - is dehumanization. As the word implies, dehumanized people feel as though they have become something less than human…. It can be hard to put the experience into words.”

“Maybe you can no longer serve the weak as one who is strong. Instead, you’ve learned the terror of being the needy and weak one, dependent on the attention and the ability of the strong for your very survival.”

“Lord, I grow so weary at the failed attempts to better my circumstances that sometimes I just want to give up. It feels like You’ve walled up my way and shoved me into a deep pit that I can’t climb out of. My life keeps shrinking, and the dreams I once had die a little more each day. Oh Lord, remind me that Your ways with Your people are often mysterious. You do not waste the lives of Your people, but You have purpose in all things even when the pain feels pointless.”

“When we experience comprehensive and chronic suffering that begins at a young age, our laments are less about the loss of things in mid-life and more about the pain of things that never were.”

“Oh, Lord, my heart is downcast as I remember what my life used to be and what it has now become. I used to feel the light of Your continence on me. Life wasn’t perfect, but it felt like there was a balance between blessings and trials, between joys and sorrows. And then, all the good seemed to be snatched away from me. Everything seemed to fall apart right in the middle of story and I don’t understand why. I thought that things would get better, but they haven’t. It feels like I spend my life surviving rather than thriving. You seem far away. And I have no sense of Your presence. Deep down, I wonder if You hate me or if I don’t belong to You. I feel like a ghost in the land of the living, desperately longing to live for you and serve in the ways that my heart desires. But instead, I’m like a half-human, struggling to get through another day. Life has become a labored sigh. And my dreams feel like they’re dying. Lord, have mercy on me. Strengthen me according to Your Word. Free me with Your truth. Empower me through Your Spirit. Guard me from the Evil One. Give me sustaining grace and comfort me in my affliction that I may courageously live for you. Amen.”

“They become much more compassionate toward others than they were before they personally experienced deep affliction. Though we may wish that God had taught us this lesson in a less painful way, the fact remains that it is a good thing when we grow in compassion. People living with comprehensive and chronic suffering often feel they can’t minister to others in the ways they used to because of their limitations. This may be true, but as the Lord gives us opportunity and ability, we can be a listening ear and a comforting presence as we sit together with others on the ash-heap of life, mourning with them the things that should be that are not and the things that are that should not be. In so doing, we participate in the ministry of the body of Christ.”

“Many things may be blocking our experience of joy. Our experience of joy can be blocked by unbelief. Romans 15:13…. Faith fuels our joy. Psalm 13:5, 21:6-7, 33:21.”

“When this is the case, what’s most important is not your attempts to directly pursue joy - which will likely remain elusive as you struggle against unbelief - what’s important for you in this context is to lay hold of God, as Job did, wrestling with Him in prayer and through His Word. As you seek to have your faith strengthened and restored. Faith causes joy to bloom. My encouragement is to focus on the fight for your faith — to do so by remaining faithful to reading God’s Word, attending corporate worship (if physically possible), reading Christian books that can help you better understand God’s character and ways, and receiving counseling from Church leaders or a biblical counselor. God is faithful, and though you may have to wait a long time, everyone who believes in Him will not be put to shame.”

“Interpret your suffering not as a sign of displeasure or abandonment but as a sign that you are following Jesus, who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame (Heb 12:2).”

“But difficult circumstances and surroundings require us to be joy hunters, who are willing to search for beauty in small ways and unexpected places, all the while knowing that one day we will be surrounding by unimaginable splendor for all eternity, but today, we rejoice in the little things - the branches of a tree swaying in the wind, birds calling to one another, a beautiful sunset, a thundering storm, and we praise the God who created such a magnificent earth. But there’s much more to rejoice in than nature (1 Cor 10:31).”

“When they attend a wedding, they watch the groom’s face as he beholds his bride walking toward him. The unbridled joy that the groom feels as he sees his bride is but a faint echo of the superior joy that the Lord has in His own.”

“We long for our Father, we long for our true home, and we long to be everything that God intended for us to be when He created humankind. But in Jesus Christ, our ransom has already been paid. And He is returning to slay the wicked and our suffering and take us home to be with Him. Horror will give way to honor, groaning will give way to glory, and heartache will give way to happiness forever.”

“Tension and dissonance arise in the souls of sufferers when their grief is bottled up inside and needs to be expressed, yet the people around them refuse to acknowledge or enter into their grief with them…. They can get overwhelmed with turbulent emotions that can’t get expressed…. There is a time to weep, and we need not be afraid to enter into such grief with others.”

“Comprehensive suffering is isolating in many respects…. Those who suffer in these ways are often disconnected from what is perceived as normal life by other Christians and their lives aren’t characterized by the same rhythms, opportunities, advantages, and experiences as the average person or family.”

[Stephen Rech]

Not a comprehensive look at suffering or the life of Job but definitely thorough enough on the topic of suffering in a smaller sized book that is easier to get through. Good thoughts on dealing with suffering that doesn't change in this life. Sometimes God doesn't change the circumstances, then what? Good thoughts on how the church should be a place where more of us know how to support each other better, especially when prayer doesn't change the circumstances and we must suffer on together.

I would read this book if I was wondering if I am defining my own suffering correctly. I would read this book if I am asking myself what type of support I could hope for from my brothers and sisters in Christ while on a journey of suffering that doesn't seem to change.

I would read this book if I was wondering if I was supportive in the right ways when a loved one was suffering. I would read this book to consider how I will support a loved one who continues on a path of chronic and comprehensive suffering.

I read straight through, but I would go back with a notebook to write in or get a copy now that I can mark up on second read.

[Joelle Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have suffered with chronic, intractable migraine for 30 years, and during that time I have read many books on suffering and the Christian walk. The focus of this book was different from any other, and exactly what I had been needing!

The main focus on suffering has been the need to acknowledge it, to not assume it involves sin, and to be willing to sit with others in their suffering. Many focus on the emotional aspects, the psychological reactions, the physiology of suffering. When you are so weary, from pain and despair, knowing that you are not alone in it is life-changing.
However, many times the books seem to end there: we all suffer, and it is okay to not be okay. The practical aspects, I suppose you could say, the mundane moments, are less of a focus; however, it can be just as wearying, to constantly be in awareness of the emotions.

The prosperity gospel movement created the lie that suffering, or the lack thereof, is directly tied to God's favor. And, that favor is linked to hidden sin and outward acts of faith. "Too blessed to be stressed" because in order to remain in favor, we cannot acknowledge anything less than positive emotions. Any negativity is going to change the reality; anything less than perfect happiness means we lack prosperity. In a world consumed with appearances, being prosperous is the only option.
However, this has also allowed us to miss or excuse sin. Trauma does not give you the right to sin, or inflict trauma upon others. Also, in our suffering, our attitudes and positions towards God and others can be rooted in sin. The prosperity gospel has also created the lie that we can manifest our own destiny. Being sad means we are focusing on the negative and therefore disrupting the goal of perfect happiness. Happiness equals blessed equals prosperity equals happiness is the endless, and vicious, cycle that has become the standard in mainstream American churches.

The reality of the Bible is that our attitudes towards God can be rooted in sin. God knows our hearts, and will never walk away from us because of that sin, and there is always forgiveness. However, we cannot ignore our humanity, and our propensity to sin. Kahn does an amazing job illuminating our sinful propensities without condemning us for the sin. This actually brings hope, because it means that we can control some of our turmoil. This must be done by turning towards the only Truth, God's infallible Word. Hahn roots her entire book in Scriptural truth, focusing mainly on the middle parts of Job. The current focus is usually on the first part, and the ending where Job gets back double. Missing from that is that Job will, for the rest of his life, still remember what he lost.
Job's friends sinned against Job, but Job also sinned against God. He lamented, and he also made accusations. When God appears, and speaks, Job can only cover his mouth, understanding now that God owes no man a justification. Our laments beg for one - indeed, I have spent countless hours begging for a reason - and we can become consumed with that. Our sin does not cause the physical suffering, but it can make us blind. Also, we can remain blind to the attacks of the enemy. My migraine is not caused by torment by Satan; but, I can be tormented by him during this time. He can cause me to be angry at what I perceive to be others rejection or ignorance. I can be resentful that a friend went on a vacation; I can become resentful if I believe they are intentionally ignoring me. I can make snide comments about how I am never invited. This turns the focus on wanting others to make me happy, and me believing that I deserve happiness, within myself and through others. Hahn centers the insidious lies of the enemy as peripheral to why we suffer, but reminds us that the enemy will take every opportunity to make us miserable.

I finished this book realizing that it was a practical, Biblically based survival guide. She shares the beginning of her story, what motivated her to write it, but it is not an emotional journey through that time. You don't spend pages crying because someone understands; instead you breathe a sigh of relief. You end going, "I can do this. I will make it through. I am not crazy." Naming our struggles removes much of their power, and Hahn has named many, both removing their power, and detailing why they seemed to have it.

Chapter 6, which focuses on the beauty of suffering, was healing to me. Suffering is a part of living in this fallen world, but suffering is not why we live. We live for and through the grace of God, orienting our lives to be known and make Him known. We know God's love the strongest when it is our only reason for living. This strength than flows out, through the Holy Spirit, impacting the lives of others. It may be someone who is silently suffering, and finds a reason to keep living. It may remind someone to check on a friend, who disappeared. And, it joins together with the voices of other believers, creating a symphony heard around the world.

**I received an advanced copy of this book, and was asked to write an honest review. All opinions are my own.**

[Lauren DuPrez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review contains affiliate links.

I received Limping Heavenward compliments of the author in exchange for my honest review.

Limping Heavenward is the debut title by biblical counselor Karrie Hahn. This book helps readers navigate comprehensive and chronic suffering through a gentle biblical lens. Karrie begins the book by sharing her own deeply painful story of suffering. It encourages me that she walked through such a dark valley and still loves Jesus and His bride.

One of my favorite aspects of Limping Heavenward is that it gives readers a robust theology of suffering. Having once believed that all suffering in my life was indicative of hidden sin, I was grateful for the way Karrie explained spiritual warfare and suffering as the reality of life in a broken world. She shared early on that the book's focus is not on identifying sin in a sufferer, but learning how to love and care for them. She also includes five unhelpful ways Christians often approach suffering and provides biblical contrasts that magnify Christ's care for His children.

Karrie offers compassionate counsel throughout the book, and her use of Scripture is wise. Her vulnerability in sharing her story makes her a trustworthy voice on Christian suffering. She made many helpful distinctions throughout the book on how to rightly handle Scripture when applying it to sufferers. In the book, she makes a helpful contrast between Job's friends, who were deemed miserable comforters, and who Christ calls us to be as we provide comfort and care.

Understanding this distinction is desperately needed in the church. I'm grateful that this book does an excellent job of laying the foundation for how we should comfort others with the comfort we've received in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). If you've walked or are walking through a season of suffering and/or want to know how you can biblically care for those who are, you need a copy of this Limping Heavenward . It's a book I hope all Christians will read so we can grow in grace in learning to care for one another well.

[Panda Incognito · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Christian publishing industry offers all kinds of books about suffering, but most of them assume that you are dealing with a very specific form of trial, and that it will only last for a mere season of your life. Karrie Hahn poses the question of where a believer should go for help when their suffering encompasses every area of life, especially when it appears that nothing will change. She reflects that even though Christians can muster up their resources to withstand temporary seasons of even very intense suffering, trials that stretch on for years wear people down to the point where conventional Christian advice about suffering falls short or even feels harmful. 

Hahn shares her own personal story of comprehensive and chronic suffering, and she explores the impact that this had on her faith, particularly with the questions that it raised and the difficulties she felt fitting in with "normal" people at church. Throughout part of Limping Heavenward, she unpacks theological ideas related to suffering, countering some of the harmful platitudes that are common in Christian culture, and she suggests possible answers to some of the questions that have tormented her.

Hahn leans heavily on the book of Job throughout this process, and she also uses this book of the Bible to address the topic of how other believers can support people whose lives have fallen apart, instead of being "miserable comforters" like Job's friends. She then shares wisdom and encouragement for her primary audience on how to live a faithful Christian life in spite of all-encompassing pain, and the book also includes an appendix with practical tips for helpers.

Limping Heavenward is a wise, Scripture-focused book that offers a unique perspective on the familiar topic of suffering. I found this book encouraging due to my own life circumstances, and I would recommend it as a thoughtful and caring guide for other Christians dealing with ongoing suffering that affects multiple areas of their lives. This is also a must-read for pastors, friends, and counselors who want to better understand and support people suffering from ongoing, all-encompassing grief and pain.

I received a free copy from the publisher, and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Limping Heavenward, Karrie Hahn writes about living by faith amid comprehensive and chronic suffering. This edifying book will strengthen suffering saints and equip those who care for them.

Comprehensive and Chronic Suffering

Hahn introduced me to the concepts of both comprehensive and chronic suffering. This suffering is comprehensive in scope, meaning it touches and impacts all aspects of your life, and chronic, meaning it lingers over long periods of time. Relational struggles might hurt the most, and Hahn details losing so much—including her boyfriend, job, and church—as she dealt with mononucleosis. She writes with first-hand experience.

For a book on suffering, it is incredibly encouraging. Even when speaking of Satan, Hahn says it can actually be encouraging to recognize his involvement in your suffering. We know his plans of attack, we know his agenda, and we can be empowered to reject him and embrace Christ as a defiant act of worship.

Traveling Together

I appreciate the hopeful perspective Hahn gives her readers. When speaking of how God treats His friends, she urges us to widen our perspective to others in Scripture and in history, to see that God has different purposes for different people. In doing so, He is still able to show perfect love toward every single son or daughter who belongs to Him in Christ.

The book ends with a compassionate call to weep with those who weep, but also to rejoice readily in hope. God continues to rejoice over His children, and we can look ahead as we wait upon the weight of future glory. After reading this book, I feel better equipped to walk alongside the suffering—by lamenting, expressing righteous anger, taking action, making connections, and staying sensitive. I’m committed to limping heavenward together, knowing that the Lord is still loving amid our suffering.

I received a media copy of Limping Heavenward and this is my honest review. @diveindigdeep

[Carrie Breedlove · Rating 5 out of 5]

Karrie does not shy away from plainly stating what many that chronic sufferers experience and think. Her personal life experiences allow her to experientially know that dark valley well.

She addresses the heart of the pain with solid theology and an eternal perspective without diminishing the experience of the sufferer. The words in this book will come as validating balm to sufferers while also pointing them to deep biblical, healing, eternal truths, that can often best be said and received by those who have walked in similar trenches.

Loved this quote, "...in our “hustle” culture, even in the church, is that we have begun to overestimate the value of production and underestimate the value of enduring in faith amid suffering." Karrie brings a sense of purpose to pain without dismissing the experience of isolation and otherness felt by those who find their lives looking different than what they expected.

She writes out what you can only suppose are deep personal laments that function as a modern day song of the weary pilgrim. For those feeling alone in their suffering this book will feel like a letter from a companion who gets it.

She also includes helpful considerations for those coming along side those with chronically difficult life situations.

As a licensed professional counselor, who provides Christian based therapy to women on unchosen journeys, I would highly recommend this book to my clients, pastors, lay leaders, to anyone who is in a deep extended season of chronic suffering and to any who wish to understand and better love those in these valleys.

[Hannah of the Sky · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was good. The author feels that many books on suffering focus on the kind of suffering that is for a season, or perhaps only affects one area of life. Her focus is on suffering that is both "chronic" and "comprehensive" - when multiple supports are taken away, with no end in sight. She draws a lot from the book of Job.


"Lamenting and rejoicing. Weeping and laughing. Grieving and celebrating. This is the biblical pattern, and however paradoxical it may seem, this is God’s path for us as we follow him, lamenting and rejoicing as we limp heavenward by his grace."

"We often hear the sentiment in modern evangelicalism that if we just arm ourselves with enough biblical truth before the tsunami of suffering hits, then we can triumphantly sail through any affliction with otherworldly joy, peace, strength, and confidence. But that sentiment is often inaccurate, and it sometimes borders on arrogance or presumption. Of course we should store up God’s Word in our hearts and learn all that we can about his character and his ways. But ultimately, we can’t entirely inoculate ourselves against the profound impact of deep and lengthy afflictions...But the good news is that God shepherds us into and leads us through the dark places, even when we can’t see him or feel him there at all. Many of God’s beloved children have found themselves in such places, so if we find ourselves there as well, we are not alone."

[Veronica Massie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is for you if you're asking things like: Why me? Why can other people live pain free lives while I suffer every day of mine? What's the point of even trying anymore? Why does it feel like nobody understands or cares about my suffering? Did I do something to deserve this misery? These are all questions that have crossed my mind and I've cried out so many times to God because of the hopelessness and isolation I've experienced because of my chronic suffering. There's tons of books out there on how to address the physical suffering (diet, exercise, meditation, medicine, etc) and lots of books out there on handling the emotional suffering. But what's not addressed enough is our spiritual suffering. The pain deep in our hearts that's so hardto put into words. This book totally changed my outlook on my suffering. The author has been there and suffered in the same ways we are. What she said affected me on so many levels, I just want to shout about this book from the rooftops. I cried a lot of tears reading this book because it put my suffering into words and gave me hope that I'm not alone and I'm not suffering because God turned His back on me or hates me. You aren't alone in your suffering!

[Dave Nannery · Rating 5 out of 5]

There have been many books written recently to guide Christians through suffering, guiding them through times in which it feels like their world has fallen apart. But what about situations in which your world falls apart in almost every way for no apparent reason, and continues falling apart with no end in sight? In Limping Heavenward, Karrie Hahn speaks to Christians who endure this sort of suffering which she calls "comprehensive" and "chronic." She doesn't write from a distant theoretical perspective, or even the perspective of a helper, but the perspective of someone who has walked down this road, and continues to walk down it, and wants to share her wisdom to those who suffer and those who want to help them.

Since everyone's experience of such suffering is different, different chapters will be particularly helpful. As I've counselled others who are suffering, the wisdom from chapter 3 on Satan's attacks on sufferers is eye-opening to people. Such sufferers often sense that there is malicious intent at work against them, and what a good thing it is to hear that this intent comes from Satan and not from God! For this, and much other wisdom, I strongly recommend this book.

[Katelyn Friesen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book on suffering is like none I’ve ever read. Karrie Hahn intertwines her own story with stories mainly from the book of Job on comprehensive suffering and Biblical examples on how to encourage and walk through suffering that just adds up. The book is divided into 3 parts, relational struggles in suffering, comprehensive and chronic suffering, and living with suffering. The last part of the book was my favorite as there was sample prayers of lament to pray based off the book of Job intertwined with bits of Psalms. The appendix includes a section on how to help those who face comprehensive and chronic suffering and it is a must read for every friend, pastor, or counselor! This book gave me a new perspective of the book of Job and the Bible as a whole than what I had read before and enlightened my eyes to what the Bible says to those whose suffering just seems to pile on and on…and it says A LOT!
Limping Heavenward is definitely a must read for any person looking to encourage the body of Christ!

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Learning to be a safe space for the sufferers in our lives is the call of every believer. Yet after speaking with loved ones with chronic illness the common experience is that their friends often lack a knowledge of how to love them well. Karri Hahn’s book is not just written for sufferers but also for those who know it is their calling to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep as Christ did and expects us to do in His name!

Hahn’s appendix for loved ones of sufferers and chapter on how we can harm chronic sufferers is especially helpful. The other chapters especially on lament and how God sees them is a precious peek behind the veil of their suffering that all loved ones should take the time to become educated. Many chronic sufferers lack the words to express their immense suffering but Karri’s vulnerability gives voice to them and theological grounding in unsteady times as they limp heavenward.

[Clifton Rankin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Karrie Hahn is the Associate Editor of “Tabletalk Magazine,” and has published an interesting look at the problem of suffering in “Limping Heavenward: Living by Faith in Comprehensive and Chronic Suffering.” The book is part autobiography, part theology, and part treatise on living the Christian life. Hahn has given us a down-to-earth look at what she calls “comprehensive and chronic suffering” in the life of a Christian. She shares her own ordeal with these issues along with a look at Scripture, especially the Psalms and Book of Job, to enlighten Christians on facing ongoing suffering in their own lives, and in the lives of others. She doesn’t attempt to give “easy answers,” but honestly looks at the emotional upheavals that are felt by those confronted with physical, financial, and relationship struggles. (194 pages)

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️
Really really appreciated the “comprehensive and chronic suffering” emphasis rather than just “suffering” as someone who struggles with this. Also really appreciated how theology shaped the scope of the book.
I listened to the audio book and found the narrator slightly annoying so that could be why this didn’t land like I thought it would at the start. The first couple chapters are excellent. I think I expected the author to weave her story and experiences more throughout the book rather than mostly at the beginning. I know it isn’t a memoir, but still. Maybe my expectations were the issue rather than the book itself.

There needs to be more books like this/ on this topic. Thank you to the author for writing it.

[Tania Bingham · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have not read a lot of books on suffering and I have never experienced extreme or comprehensive suffering as Karrie describes it. This book opened my eyes to what comprehensive and chronic suffering looks like and how to respond to it. I was incredibly convicted of being a “miserable comforter.” This book has taught me more thoroughly the biblical view of suffering, deepened my compassion for those who suffer, and shown me how damaging miserable comforters can be to those who suffer. Lord, forgive me!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven’t read much in the ‘Christian suffering’ space before, but I really appreciated how Kerrie tied together her personal experience of chronic and comprehensive suffering (a term she defines well) with Biblical examples. There are lots of bible references - obviously to Job but also to others like Psalms. I can see how this could be a useful encouragement to people experiencing chronic and comprehensive suffering, or suffering that may tip over into meeting that ‘definition’ too, as it goes back to core Biblical principles with practical suggestions including examples of laments that may be relevant.

[Kitty Piltman · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all I just want to thank you Karrie for allowing me to enter into your own suffering. Sometimes chronic suffering can feel so very lonely. I know that Jesus walks with us as we move through the ebb and flows of this journey. But, to have someone who can understand this side of heaven is a gift from above.

Your book gave that to me.

May His face continue to shine upon you as you bless others.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

[Ben Mann · Rating 4 out of 5]

What do you do when most of the pillars of life are toppled and destroyed? How do you hold the center when you are pulled downward into the pit of life? Karrie describes her own journey into suffering. She provides a perspective of suffering that encompasses the questions, internal dialogue, and truth that sustains her. I resonated with many experiences and questions. The greatest strength of the book is the questions, dialogue, and biblical truths that were her guide and hope. The weakest aspect of the book is the "straw man" depiction of her descent into suffering. With no specific details of her suffering it is difficult to feel the full weight of her suffering. You understand the concept but not her own pain. Overall, I recommend this for anyone who is suffering, been through suffering, or will be going through suffering. Read up everyone.

[Courtney Haskins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Takes the top of my list when considering books to recommend to those in deep suffering. This book validates the feelings and experiences of those suffering while reminding the reader of God’s truth and his comfort, especially God wants us to come to Him.

The appendix should be read by every Christian, stating how to best help suffers in their suffering.

[Lee Button · Rating 5 out of 5]

Karrie Hahn covers all the biblical bases on the topic. This is a helpful book for everyone living with chronic suffering, no matter how comprehensive. I have already recommended it to two others in this situation.