When the Journey Hurts: Finding Meaning in Suffering for Heart, Mind, and Soul

Transform Your Suffering with Tools from Theology, Psychology, and Spiritual Formation

We don't like pain.

So, we find creative ways to go around it. We try to ignore, minimize, or deny our suffering, but we're still left hurting. The twisting and defiling work of sin on this world is overwhelming and shatters our assumptions about ourselves and our place in the world. And yet, the path forward is through suffering. Our afflictions present an opportunity to encounter God and allow him to redeem our suffering.

Drawing on six years of research, When the Journey Hurts untangles common misconceptions about suffering, instead helping you find meaning in it. The authors integrate theology, psychology, and spiritual formation to provide actionable steps and tools that teach you how to suffer well in relationship with God and others.

This book introduces seven key practices to help you uncover meaning in your suffering, equipping you to engage with suffering in a healthy, faithful way:

• Identifying with Christ's suffering
• Lament
• Surrender
• Forgiveness
• Gratitude
• Memento mori (remembering our mortality)
• Weaving our story of suffering into God's story

These practices are supported by both theological insights and psychological research, providing a unique approach to navigating suffering. Rather than diminishing the weight of your pain, this book is designed to help you transform suffering into an opportunity for spiritual growth and deeper connection with God. With When the Journey Hurts, you'll find that your pain can lead you closer to Jesus.