The core of spiritual formation

Jamie Phear considers God’s purpose behind all the shaping and moulding – and it’s not what you might think

Sitting in a pizza place in Wandsworth Town on an ordinary Sunday evening was not where I imagined the Holy Spirit breaking in. My friend Karley was in London for a week visiting, and we had packed in so much – a Christian creatives conference, recording five podcast episodes and all the touristy things, as I showed her the city I love.

I was emerging from a hard season of loss, still healing, and we found ourselves talking about the deep work that happens in seasons of suffering. It’s nearly impossible to see how God is shaping us while we’re in the thick of it. Yet as you emerge, you begin to notice the gold dust scattered around the knee marks on the floor – all the prayer, crying out, surrender and healing – his presence somehow closest in our pain.