Reaching for Wonder: Encountering Christ When Life Hurts

Sometimes life hurts. Sometimes you’ve struggled, and stumbled, until it even hurts to hope. Perhaps you’ve faced a spiritual crisis of disappointment, doubt, or a feeling of distance from God due to unanswered prayers and painful circumstances. But what does it mean to encounter Christ in those times? What does he say to us when we have nothing left to say? How do we see him when pain has silenced our prayers and blinded our souls?

In Reaching for Wonder, Marlo Schalesky explores fifteen of the New Testament’s one-time encounters with Christ to illuminate the surprising character of a God who transforms our pain into wonder.

Because sometimes life isn’t at all as we want it to be…

Because we lose the wonder in the hardships of life …

Because encountering Christ changes everything…

Like those who have gone before, following God’s call isn’t about easy faith, a life of effortlessness, or every prayer answered when and how we want. Instead, it’s about encountering God so deeply, so significantly, that everything about your circumstances, about your life, about you, changes because of God. 

In these New Testament stories you’ll find guidance to a deeper understanding of God’s plan for you, a more vibrant faith, and a fuller trust in God. Plus you’ll find hope in knowing that your life may not be as you had envisioned it, but is one in which God is doing a mighty work.