The Christian life is marked with great suffering. We live in a fallen and broken world full of disappointments and the loss of dreams. And there is a cost to following Christ—often painfully felt in close relationships.

In her book, Still Standing: Following Jesus Even When It Hurts Lina AbuJamra shares how God’s refining process makes Him bigger in our hearts and transforms us into people who are like Him. Our pain can lead to despair and bitterness, or it can make us more like Jesus. But we must be willing to undergo the refining process—and this hurts.

Lina shows us the truly amazing and beautiful reality that we can have joy amidst the most difficult of circumstances. Without denying the real pain many of us carry, Lina shows Christians how to rediscover joy. She shows us how God’s presence is our guarantee for joy no matter what we’re going through. Lina looks to current and biblical stories to show us how refined people can be used by God to persevere and build His kingdom.

I love talking about God’s radical calling of His children and what it means to follow Jesus wholeheartedly, especially when it hurts. If there is one thing that continues to surprise me as I follow Jesus, it’s the difficulty of the journey, the unexpected delays, the detours, the disappointments, and the waiting. Despite what I know about God, I still catch myself taken aback by the amount of suffering endured in the pursuit of one’s calling. It is my hope that this book inspires hope in the hearts of followers of Jesus who have encountered suffering as they have pursued obedience to Christ.