For quiet struggles
For the times nobody understands. God sees.
Christian Living
Struggling Well With Life
Yes, you will struggle in this life. You can be confident of that. The question is, are you prepared to struggle well?
There is no formula for getting rid of life's painful challenges, troubles, and hurts. Jesus promises to be with us; he does not promise a life free of difficulty. But what if he uses our struggle, and wants us to do it well? What if we make our goal learning to live, even thrive, in the struggle?
The pages of this book are a journey to discover what it means to struggle well with life.
I think that's the definition, to me, in its simplest form, of what it means to struggle well: I will never turn my face away from God.
Practical voice
Down-to-earth wisdom for everyday life.
Practical hope
Truth you can hold on to through life's storms.
Honest about hope
Stories about real life and finding Christ in the hard places.
For the long haul
Life, because we live in this fallen world, is the long haul.
What I’ve seen
Maybe this sounds familiar.
You’re facing something difficult, but there’s no clear finish line. When you don’t know where the finish line is, it’s hard to persevere.
There’s no formula here. There’s no A plus B equals C, A plus B equals peace. Life in this fallen world is a long haul.
Struggling well is not pretending that uncertainty is easy. It is choosing, day after day, to keep turning toward Christ even when the answers and the finish line remain out of sight.
Where the book came from
It originally came from a sermon series I delivered at Church at Charlotte on the book of Job, and the whole idea of what it means to struggle well with life. It's been sitting around in my brain. It's been sitting around on my computer. And through the encouragement of my wife and others, it finally has come into completion.
The author
Jimmy Kallam, Jr.
Jimmy Kallam served on staff at Church at Charlotte (now New City Church, EFCA) for 42 years, including 37 as senior pastor. He holds a B.A. in Biblical Literature from Northeastern Bible College, where Suzi also graduated.
Jimmy has served on multiple nonprofit boards, including Winning With Encouragement, The Barnabas Center, Word of Messiah, and the EFCA Board of Directors. Together, Jimmy and Suzi have taught internationally on marriage, pastoral health, and leadership encouragement in countries such as Ethiopia, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, and Thailand.
More about Jimmy and Suzi at Tandem SpiritualityThe heart of the book
Hope isn’t found around the struggle, but within it.
There’s no formula for escaping life’s painful seasons, but there is a way to walk through them well. The pages of Struggling Well are that journey.
This is guidance drawn from lived experience, from a faith tested through decades of hardships and blessings, and a deep love for the Church and her people.
There is hope beyond the struggle you’re facing today. A path back to Christ will restore that hope, and we will be your guide.
Reader recommendations
What readers are saying
We just had him anchor a four-part mid-week series called “Wednesday Wisdom” to share his latest work Struggling Well With Life and we got blessed! Walking us through Job, we couldn’t help but connect with the Word in how Jim taught, coaching us to see lament through the lens of healing rather than horror. Who doesn’t need that kind of encouragement in the days we live?
Chaplain Tony Emes in Mooresville has used the resource to share encouragement with Memory Makers at the Mooresville store, coaching several on the team on how to face their current struggles. The book has proven to be a very helpful and encouraging resource for the chaplains.