Waiting For God To Mold You

Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. (Isaiah 64:4)
 
A while back, a group from our church took a trip to Italy. While we were there, we had the privilege of seeing the famous statue of David. But what’s interesting is that most people don’t know the history of the statue.  
 
It all began in 1466 in the city of Florence, Italy with a block of stone that had been sitting in a courtyard behind a cathedral. The stone was 18 feet tall and something like 25,000 pounds. No one had harvested a stone this large in close to 1,000 years. This block of marble had been cut out of a mountain for a renowned sculptor to fashion a glorious statue that would be become the pride of Florence.  
 
But when the giant rock had arrived, it was woefully imperfect, marred by holes from the quarrying and cracks from a fall into a muddy ditch. And despite its towering size, it was strangely narrow. The imperfections had derailed the project. The sculptor was fired, and the stone sat there for 35 years, “getting rained on, hailed on, and fouled on by birds.”  
 
Have you ever felt that way? You think it’s finally time for God to do something big in your life, but then you’re left waiting for what seems like an eternity. And as you face less than ideal circumstances during your waiting period, you feel like you’re figuratively getting rained on, hailed on, and fouled on by birds. It’s not a fun place to be. But God has not abandoned you. He is not through with you, just like the story of the stone was over either.  
 
After 35 years, Michelangelo stepped onto the scene. He took that deeply flawed block of stone and saw not what it was, but what it could be. With its imperfections, he saw its possibility. He turned what some deemed impossible to redeem into a masterpiece that people all over the world still flock to every year.  
 
Out of something imperfect, the master sculptor fashioned something great, even though it took longer than expected. That’s exactly what God wants to do with you. Even though you might be waiting on Him, your story isn’t over. He’s not through with His plan and His purpose for you. If you could see the masterpiece He wants to create with your life, you’d trust that the wait is going to be worth it.