We all have places in our lives where we feel the need for change. But we don’t always know how we move from knowledge of our need to actual change. We begin to feel stuck and are tempted to believe we are simply stuck this way. 

As believers, we know that Christ has made an abundance of life available to us, but run into walls as we seek to find it. Often we don’t realize that our foundation has subtly drifted until a crisis hits. Even when difficult circumstances send us spinning with questions, fears, and doubts about everything we thought was steady, we can build a life that is full of hope and freedom.

Whether you are in crisis, an emotional/spiritual first responder to the crisis of another, or simply wanting to inspect and repair your foundation before a crisis hits, I wanted to share a unique resource. Through the Made to Minister Biblical Counseling Conference, I came across Journey: A Path to Biblical Change, by Laura Chica. This is an incredibly helpful resource for those who are counseling and mentoring others. It is also for the person trying to navigate through a tough season of life if they don’t have counselors of mentors available to them.

The back of the book says it best:

“Journey is a unique resource written for anyone experiencing trials or suffering who wants to find hope, peace, contentment and freedom. Together, we’ll explore: 

What you believe about God—what He says about Himself and your relationship with Him.

Who is on the throne of your life and why knowing that matters?

What you think about suffering and its purpose?

Why following Jesus on your journey makes all the difference. 

This powerful resource includes step-by-step weekly homework for biblical counselors, mentors, or small group leaders to use with anyone desiring to find out how to view suffering and trials and how to successfully navigate through difficult circumstances and relationships.”

We all need to check-in every once and a while to make sure the reality of our daily life is not off course from the life God has called us to live.  In many seasons of life, a strange disconnect develops for the Christian between what we know is true, and the reaction we have to the ups and downs of life. Journey is not just a book. It is full of scripture but is not an inductive Bible study. It is not a “7 easy steps” method. It is not addressing any particular kind of sin, snare, or trial. It is a resource with a guided pathway through the underlying heart issues one might address in biblical counseling.

Things I love about this resource:

Journal questions: This 175 page book is filled with thoughtful questions that dig a bit deeper into the intersection of my actual life and the truth of the Word of God. It combines processing my current struggle with the kind of conversation I could expect with a biblical counselor. As a verbal processor, writing and discussing is how I know what is going on in my own head. The journal questions take this past gaining information into personal application. This resource can also be used over and over in different seasons, when new problems arise, or to counsel others God may place in my path.

Charts: What happens when a person starts living for the Kingdom of God and actually views their trials through the lens of the Bible? The reality of what God says about people is life-changing and trajectory altering. The charts of each subject distill the topics so that a counselor or mentor can verbally teach and help a counselee identify where they have been forgetting God. Each chart is filled with helpful information that can be referred to quickly. 

Rooted in truth, but easy to access: When a person is struggling and reaching out for help and counsel, reading a thousand-page explanation of deep theology might make things worse before it gets better.  This resource paraphrases and explains big topics in a way that anyone can grasp enough to take action and apply what they have learned.

I have learned so much through this resource, and full-heartedly recommend it to anyone discipling, mentoring, or just trying to walk biblically through trials.

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Holly Hawes writes to tell the stories of what God has done, especially through her experiences of infertility, foster care, and adoption. She is 30-something and has been married to Josh since 2010. She is Mom to a teenager by adoption, a child she’ll meet in heaven and often “bonus kids” via foster care. She loves creativity, the PNW, books, flowers, and sharing Jesus with hearts that need him.