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.

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; fratitude; memento mori (remembering our mortality); and weaving our story of suffering into God's story.

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.

©2026 Miriam Elizabeth Lewis Hall, Kelly M. Kapic, and Jason McMartin