Hiking the Clouds

The Journey to Mature Faith

De: Joël Malm

Narrado por: Joël Malm

When the path of faith leads into clouds and uncertainty, it doesn't mean you're lost—it means you're climbing.

We often imagine spiritual growth as a journey toward clarity and light. But what if the higher we go, the more likely we are to walk through mystery, questions, and spiritual fog? What if clouds aren’t a sign of failure—but of maturity?

In Hiking the Clouds, Joël Malm invites you into a reflective and deeply personal exploration of the spiritual ascent. Drawing from ancient wisdom, modern psychology, and years of mentoring others through seasons of doubt and disillusionment, this book maps out the waypoints of faith—distinct stages in the journey toward divine love.

Inspired by Peter’s progression from faith to agape in 2 Peter 1, this book is for:

• Seasoned believers navigating a shift in how they experience God
• Mentors and pastors walking with others through spiritual re-evaluation
• Anyone who’s ever whispered, “God feels silent… but I can’t walk away”

This is not a roadmap, checklist, or quick fix. It’s a companion for the second half of faith—the part that’s less about certainty and more about surrender. Less about answers and more about love.

So if you find yourself in the clouds right now—unsure, disoriented, and wondering if you’ve taken a wrong turn—this book is for you. Because the clouds might just be the clearest sign that you're still on the mountain… and still climbing.

©2025 Ore Publishing (P)2025 Joël Malm

A Companion Guide for the Journey of Faith

“Doubt, silence, restlessness, disillusionment…you’re not lost, you’re ascending”

Are you feeling bewildered or lost in your faith, yet something within clings to you, like you’re strangely in the right place? Or maybe you’re hopeless and even feel like walking away, desperately in need of a reason to keep going? You are not alone and you need this book. It’s not a quick fix or a miracle, but God’s revelation through it, might just be exactly what you need right now.

Concise and relatable overview of the journey of faith as we progress into maturity. The author is gifted at explaining deep, complex theological truths in a way that just makes sense. Many perplexing struggles I’ve faced personally, are explained in this book. What a relief to know others experience this and it’s a normal part of God’s work in us!

I appreciate the author’s transparency about his own faults and failures, and the growth that came from it. Those of us who wrestle with GOD are often shunned as being faithless, yet God invites us and actually initiates the wrestling. It's an intimate, full-contact sport that builds endurance with the One who knows us better than we know ourselves.

God invited Moses to meet with HIm in the clouds on Mt. Sinai, and He invites us too. The cloud is the manifestation of the Lord’s glory and His presence, so the analogy of the “journey of faith” as “hiking into the clouds” is dead on. The higher we go, the less certain we are. God is mysterious in the most wonderful way, and the higher we ascend, the more of His mystery (glory) He reveals to us.

“What once was strong, is being undone, and the undoing is not your failure, it’s your transformation.” We encounter God not through answers but through trust, silence and contemplation.”

“Godly love, agape, is the sign of mature faith. You never arrive, it is an endless ascent. Growth is followed by what feels like retraction. The journey of faith is an ever increasing awareness of the freedom already available in Christ but to get there we must shed layers of control, fear and ego. If what you’re experiencing feels like a crisis or a lowpoint, it’s actually part of the process.”

"For as these qualities are yours and are increasing [in you as you grow toward spiritual maturity], they will keep you from being useless and unproductive in regard to the true knowledge and greater understanding of our Lord Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 1:8

If life is dark right now, I also really recommend his book “Connecting the Dots: What God is Doing When Life Doesn't Make Sense.” That was the first book I read from this author and it gave me hope. I still listen to the audiobook.