Comfort in Waiting

 The workbook assignment in Stephen W. Smith’s Soul Shaping has been very comforting. We all want to be more and more and increasingly more Christlike, don’t we? That’s what soul shaping is all about. Allowing God to remove the impurities from our clay, to water the clay to make it more pliable, to mix in powdered shards to add strength, and then to change our shape and change it again as he deems best. Are you impatient, like me, for faster progress? Why is it taking so long?  

Smith says: 

“Transformation occurs over time, so often we must wait. We may need to wait for changes in other people, other circumstances, or ourselves.” (155)  

I thought I’d share my workbook responses from pages 155 and 156.  

We learn from Isaiah 30:18 that God is patient with us. Indeed, his patience glorifies him; it is a sign of his mercy. We are blessed if we wait for the Lord. 

We see in Isaiah 40:30-31 that those who wait for the Lord will have their strength renewed; they will soar like eagles! 

Job 5:17-18 tells us that God’s discipline is a gift. He wounds but then he heals. The goal is restoration. 

Psalm 147:3 comforts with the promise to heal the broken-hearted; he will bind up our wounds. 

We see this played out across all of time in Isaiah 53:4-5.  God’s wounds have healed us, are healing us and will heal us.  

Smith assures us that something transformational happens when we are still and wait. He says that “Something important happens in the waiting time…something that cannot happen when we are moving.” (159) 

Let Psalm 130 give you words to pray when you are waiting for transformation: (164) 

Psalm 130

A song of ascents.

¹ Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord;
²     Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
    to my cry for mercy.

³ If you, Lord, kept a record of sins,
    Lord, who could stand?
⁴ But with you there is forgiveness,
    so that we can, with reverence, serve you.

⁵ I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits,
    and in his word I put my hope.
⁶ I wait for the Lord
    more than watchmen wait for the morning,
    more than watchmen wait for the morning.

⁷ Israel, put your hope in the Lord,
    for with the Lord is unfailing love
    and with him is full redemption.
⁸ He himself will redeem Israel
    from all their sins.

Maybe you could share with your Soul Friend what it’s like for you to wait. Have a great week.