When the Journey Hurts

Finding Meaning in Suffering for Heart, Mind, and Soul

by Kelly M. Kapic, M Elizabeth Lewis Hall, and Jason McMartin

Church & Ministry

Paperback

$21.99

Length: 224 pages
Dimensions: 5.5 × 8.5 in
Published: April 14, 2026
Imprint: IVP
ISBN: 9781514008492

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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 stillleft 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 toengage with suffering in a healthy, faithful way:

Identifying with Christ's suffering
Lament
Surrender
Forgiveness
Gratitude
Memento mori (remembering our mortality)
Weaving our storyof 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.

REVIEWS

"'The journey through suffering, while unwanted, can be the road to flourishing—the hard road to glory.' The authors back up that hope-filled statement with stirring testimonies, careful research, and penetrating insight that reveal the mysteriousvalue of suffering. They don't celebrate or explain away our pain; instead, they remind us that God is with us in our trials and that they are never without purpose. After reading When the Journey Hurts, you'll be convinced that, even in life's fiercest storms, God is redeeming what once threatened to undo us."Vaneetha Rendall Risner, author of Watching for the Morning

"A question Dallas Willard often asked was, 'Does the gospel we preach and teach bring comfort and strength, hope and meaning, to those who are suffering? If it does not, it is not Jesus' good news.' This book brings the gospel to those who are suffering. It is the best book I have read on the subject of how to find purpose in and through suffering."James Bryan Smith, author of The Good and Beautiful God

"Given how ancient and ubiquitous our human suffering is, one would think that we would have said all that can be said about it. But it is because of its very nature that we continually, deeply need voices that remind us afresh of what it means tosuffer as we follow Jesus. With When the Journey Hurts, it is to this need that Kelly M. Kapic, M. Elizabeth Hall, and Jason McMartin have so compassionately written, while remaining unflinching in the face of how anguishing our suffering can be. Read this for clarity. Read this to find mercy. But most of all, read this to know that you are not alone on the road of suffering that you and others are traveling."Curt Thompson, psychiatrist and author of The Deepest Place and The Soul of Desire

"When the Journey Hurts addresses two difficult, timeless questions: How can I make sense of my suffering? And how can I best deal with suffering? This book uniquely offers both biblical and psychological insights that can be immediately applied to your life or the lives of those you love. It is full of stories, insights, and hope for those who suffer. I hope you will prayerfully read it and also share what you have learned with a friend."Sean McDowell, professor of apologetics at Talbot School of Theology, author, and YouTuber

"In times of suffering, we often seek advice from others who have gone through similar difficulties, hoping to find comfort, reassurance, and answers to our search for how we, too, might survive and thrive. Never satisfied with trite or predictable responses, the authors instead lay out a potential roadmap through the dark days of anguish, illness, and trouble with fresh words of hope that stirred my soul."Kay Warren, founder of Hope for Brighter Tomorrows and author of Choose Joy:When Happiness Isn't Enough

"When the Journey Hurts is a beautifully written and deeply moving book that invites readers to encounter God's presence in the midst of suffering. Kelly M. Kapic, M. Elizabeth Hall, and Jason McMartin bring rare wisdom, honesty, and compassion to some of life's hardest questions. Their words offer both comfort and courage, helping us see that faith can grow stronger and more tender in the face of adversity. This book is a true gift to the church and to anyone walking through difficult seasons."Jamie Aten, cofounder of Spiritual First Aid and Blanchard Chair of Humanitarian and Disaster Leadership at Wheaton College's Humanitarian Disaster Institute

Preface: Suffering: The Bad News and the Good News

Part 1: A Roadmap for the Journey
1. Suffering and Meaning
2. Problematic Roadmaps
3. Choosing Better Destinations
4. Purposes for Suffering

Part 2: Meaning-Making Practices for the Journey
5. Identifying with Christ's Suffering
6. Lament
7. Surrender
8. Forgiveness
9. Gratitude
10. Remembering Our Mortality
11. Weaving Our Story of Suffering intoGod's Story

Acknowledgments
Appendix: Leader's Guide for Group Study
Notes

Modern Psychopathologies

Love All Our Neighbors

Socially Awkward Evangelism

Crying Out to God

Skills for Effective Counseling

Engaging in Counseling Research with Curiosity and Wisdom

Social Psychology in Christian Perspective

The Integrative Mindset

Grieving Wholeheartedly

The Client's Guide to Therapy

ABOUT Kelly M. Kapic

Kelly M. Kapic holds the Honorary Chair of Theology and Culture at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia. Kapic has also worked on research teams funded by the John Templeton Foundation. He is an author or editor of more than fifteen books, including the award-winning titles You’re Only Human and Embodied Hope, and is an active speaker.

ABOUT M. Elizabeth Lewis Hall

Dr. Liz Hall is professor of psychology at Rosemead School of Psychology, Biola University, in La Mirada, California. For the past decade, she has led a team exploring the resources Christianity offers during difficult times. She coauthored Relational Spirituality with her husband, Todd, and has published over 150 academic works.

ABOUT Jason McMartin

Jason McMartin is professor of theology at Biola University. He has served as an urban missionary and also as a bi-vocational pastor.

When the Journey Hurts

Finding Meaning in Suffering for Heart, Mind, and Soul