The Dark Night of the Soul

 

Our Dark Nights

The Christian teacher and writer from Spain, St. John of the Cross, June 24, 1542 –December 14, 1591.

John spoke from his own experience(s) , when he expressed the despair and dryness of soul that we all encounter in our Christian journey from time to time as we walk this life toward eternity with our lord Jesus Christ.  His poem called “the Dark Night” expressed his, (and on occasion our), painful experience(s) that Christians undergo as they seek to grow in spiritual maturity and union with God. 

Whether we agree with all of John’s Theology or not, we can agree that all of us, either have are or will pass through times that truly seem to be “Dark Nights of the soul”, when God appears to be so distant and removed, we feel so alone and abandoned. Our Spiritual moorings are shaken, we feel adrift.

Our pain can be so intense, barrenness grips us, and our faith we realize is so inadequate, our own resources dwindle. Despair can envelop us, we want to give up, we ask ourselves, is it worth it? How can we go on? Will it ever get better? Life feels meaningless and empty, prospects are fading.

We cry out and from our point of view, the heavens are as brass; it is as if our prayers have no reception at the Throne of our God. We ask where is God in these times?, does He care?, is He there?  We look ahead and see a dark road which leads to more empty darkness.

Yet in spite of how we feel, or how we perceive these “Dark Night(s)”, it is in times as these, that our Lord is there, watching, and sustaining us. As alone as we may “feel”, we are not.  If you are now passing through a time of deepening darkness in your Christian life, when all seems amiss, then I encourage you to take hold of the words inspired by the Holy Spirit and penned in the Epistle to the Hebrew Christians; for this admonition is not just for our spiritual ancestors of 2000 years ago, they are for all of us  in all ages,  for us now. And if we are in a “Dark Night” of the soul, then these words will minister comfort to us.

“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” Hebrews 13:5.

Jesus Christ has made an eternal commitment to us. Even as we grope our way in despair, He is there being for us, in these moments, what we can never be for ourselves.  When our prayers seem so ineffectual, Jesus is there as our abiding Intercessor, able to succor our deliverance.

 “Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.” Hebrews 7:25

Jesus is always standing with and for us, even in our darkest times, this means that when our own prayers seem so weak, or we have despaired to the point when we have no elegant words that come forth out of our being to cry out with, it is in these times that we should then know that Jesus Himself prays for us, knowing that our names are upon the lips of our Savior, should give us hope.

Jesus’ “Dark Night”

Jesus Himself knows these moments. In His humanity when facing the cross, knowing that the hour was near at hand Jesus said-

“Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.” John: 12:27

When   upon the Cross , as He hung there for the sins of us all , Jesus uttered the words in that “Dark Night” of His Soul, which came at noon day – quoting from  Psalm:22

“About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?" that is, "MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?" Matthew: 27:46

Jesus understands and knows firsthand the “Dark Night” of the Soul, that sense of being abandon and alone. However we want to say it, Jesus knows it.

Yet, Jesus also knew something else,  as He was upon the cross; He knew what was  beyond His (and our) “Dark Nights”..When Jesus cried our using the words from Psalm 22:1, he did so not just  for what those verses expressed, but for what we read latter on in the Psalm: 22, in verses 22-31.

²² I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.
²³ Ye that fear the Lord, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.
²⁴ For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.
²⁵ My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.
²⁶ The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the Lord that seek him: your heart shall live forever.
²⁷ All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.
²⁸ For the kingdom is the Lord's: and he is the governor among the nations.
²⁹ All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul.
³⁰ A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.
³¹ They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.
Jesus knew what was the end result, that there was real hope, an end to the “Dark Night”.

In Our Dark Nights

In these times, when all seems night and darkness, we will find comfort in Jesus. God’s Word is a help even as we struggle, along, reading the Scriptures, prayer, worship all these will help. So often it is the very things that will help us the most that we often set aside first. But above all we have Jesus, to aid and carry us, when our spiritual legs give out.

Dawn Will Come

The Apostle Peter, knowing that many Christians were and would pass through these times, wrote of what lay beyond that there is a dawning which awaits us.

“And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.”
 2 Peter: 1:19

After we have been in the “Dark Night “ of our Souls, when we have passed through them, we will look back, and viewing these moments of despair , forsakenness, in retrospect and  in the clear light of dawn and we will see that in our times of deepest darkness , that it was our Lord Himself who bore us up ,Who was (and is) ever present and with us through it all, dealing mercifully with us , and has (and will) seen us through theses “Dark Nights” through which we all pass into the glory of endless day in Eternity with our Lord and King...Amen.

Rev.Todd Crouch, Pastor

Fountain of Life Church

Washington, Pa 

Fountain of Life Broadcast heard on RKP Radio 1710 & 1670 in Washington, Pa.

And online around the world at www.rkpradio.com