Week 1: Introduction — Soul Restoration in Soul-Scorching Times

1.Eldredge opens by asking a series of pointed questions: Are you happy most of the time? Do you feel deeply loved? Are you excited about your future? How often do you feel lighthearted? How did you answer those questions honestly — and did any of them catch you off guard?

2.He describes our age as 'soul-scorching times' and says most of us are 'ragged, wrung-out, and emptied.' Does that language resonate with your actual experience? What in your daily life contributes most to that feeling?

3.Eldredge distinguishes between external circumstances being hard (which we can't always change) and our inner capacity to bear them (which we can cultivate). Why do you think most people focus all their energy on changing circumstances rather than restoring capacity?

4.He frames the book around 'graces' — simple practices available to any person in any life situation. What is your initial reaction to that word 'graces'? Does it raise your hopes, your skepticism, or both?

5.One of Eldredge's core convictions is that 'God is gentle' — that he knows what your daily life actually looks like and meets you there. How does that description of God sit with you? Is it easy or hard to believe right now, and why?

6.Eldredge promises that 'you don't need to abandon your life to get it back.' What would you have to abandon, in your imagination, to truly get your life back? What makes you reluctant to do that?

7.Jesus said, 'Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest' (Matthew 11:28). How does this invitation sound to you right now — like something you genuinely believe is available to you, or like something that feels distant and theoretical? What stands between you and taking him up on it?