What to read next
by Lysa TerKeurst
It's Not Supposed to Be This Way is Lysa TerKeurst's honest look at the gap between the life we expected and the one we actually got, written from her own season of marriage crisis and cancer, and it makes the case that God meets us in disappointment rather than abandoning us there. Groups that connect with this book tend to be carrying real disappointment or loss of their own, and they respond well to studies that mix personal story with Scripture rather than offering tidy answers. From here, a group might go toward other TerKeurst studies that name a specific emotional struggle, or toward a shorter, more theological book that reframes identity and suffering from a different angle. Either direction keeps the same spirit of naming pain honestly while pointing back to God's character.
Our It's Not Supposed to Be This Way guide runs 11 sessions with 78 discussion questions.
These are guides from our own catalog, ordered by how much each book shares with It's Not Supposed to Be This Way: subject and themes first, then the kind of group it suits, then the same author. It is an editorial comparison of what the books are about — not a ranking of which is better, and not a claim about what other groups chose.
by Timothy J. Keller
Keller and TerKeurst both wrestle with what it means to find stability when life or self-image falls apart, though Keller works from a single Pauline text rather than personal crisis narrative. At just 5 sessions and 39 questions, it is a much shorter, more concentrated study, and its tone is quieter and more theological than devotional.
by Lysa TerKeurst
Unglued shares TerKeurst's habit of starting with raw honesty about a painful pattern, here anger and reaction rather than disappointment, and building toward a biblical way through it. It runs 9 sessions and 71 questions, a bit shorter and more behavior-focused, making it a practical next step for a group ready to look at their own responses.
by Lysa TerKeurst
Written out of the same marriage crisis that shaped It's Not Supposed to Be This Way, this book picks up the harder question of forgiving someone who hasn't changed. At 13 sessions and 92 questions it is longer and more sustained, and it goes deeper into grief and unresolved hurt than the head book does.
by Lysa TerKeurst
This book carries forward TerKeurst's theme of relationships that disappoint us, moving from the ache of unmet expectations into the practical work of setting limits. At 14 sessions and 110 questions it is the longest and most action-oriented study in the group, well suited to a group ready to move from processing pain to making decisions.
by Lysa TerKeurst
Where the head book asks whether God is trustworthy amid disappointment, this one asks the same question about people who have broken trust repeatedly. It shares the same reflective, story-driven tone but adds more structured, practical tools across its 14 sessions and 99 questions.
by Lysa TerKeurst
Made to Crave shares the head book's interest in the gap between what we long for and what actually satisfies, though it applies that idea specifically to food and appetite rather than to suffering broadly. At 9 sessions and 68 questions it is shorter and more practically focused on daily habits.
by Lysa TerKeurst
Uninvited explores a particular kind of disappointment, the pain of rejection, with the same vulnerable, first-person storytelling readers will recognize from It's Not Supposed to Be This Way. It is a longer study at 17 sessions and 120 questions, giving a group more time to sit with one specific wound.
by Lysa TerKeurst
The Best Yes shifts from the theme of disappointment to the related struggle of decision-making and people-pleasing, but keeps TerKeurst's blend of personal story and Scripture. Its 14 sessions and 99 questions make it a similarly substantial study, better suited to a group wanting practical guidance than one processing acute grief.
Session and question counts checked .