As I was working on a message this week, I read something that didn't directly relate to my content but was definitely worth highlighting and tucking away. I wanted to share it with you because I know that many of us have difficulty quieting our hearts and minds in order to hear from God. This world is very noisy, we know that very well.

The part that caught me reads like this: "When you're waiting, you're not doing nothing. You're doing the most important something there is. You're allowing your soul to grow up."

You're allowing your soul to grow up.

I also recently finished reading Dark Night of the Soul by St. John of the Cross, a classic book that is also teaching about the process of maturing in our faith, leaving spiritual infancy behind and "growing up" in God. Fascinating.

I found the following passage in the NIV Application Commentary on James, but the author is quoting Sue Monk Kidd's When the Heart Waits. I trust it will challenge and encourage you today, whatever you're waiting for, in whatever way you are restless.

Pastor Tracy

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One day after morning prayers, I walked to the edge of the pond and sat on the grass. I listened to the wind sigh over the water and tried to be still, to simply be there and wait in the moment. But almost instantly my inner chaos rose up. The need to keep moving, to act, to solve everything overpowered me. I got to my feet.

As I returned to the guest quarters, I noticed a monk, ski cap pulled over his ears, sitting perfectly still beneath a tree. There was such reverence in his silhouette, such tranquil sturdiness, that I paused to watch. He was the picture of waiting.

Later I sought him out. "I saw you sitting beneath the tree - just sitting there so still. How is it that you can wait so patiently in the moment? I can't seem to get used to the idea of doing nothing."

He broke into a wonderful grin. "Well, there's the problem right there, young lady. You've bought into the cultural myth that when you're waiting you're doing nothing."

Then he took his hands and placed them on my shoulders, peered straight into my eyes and said, "I hope that you'll hear what I'm about to tell you. I hope you'll hear it all the way down to your toes. When you're waiting, you're not doing nothing. You're doing the most important something there is. You're allowing your soul to grow up. If you can't be still and wait, you can't become what God created you to be."

Sue Monk Kidd, When the Heart Waits: Spiritual Direction for Life's Sacred Questions

Allowing Your Soul to Grow Up

THIS SUNDAY