"John of the Cross, a 16th century believer,
coined this term to describe a unique kind of
spiritual suffering. Distinct from the pain
God's children feel when their fellowship with
Him is broken because of sin, this sense of
darkness seems actually to be inflicted by God
in order to do a deeper work in those who long
for more of Him. By stripping us of things we've
come to rely upon - even good things like answers
to prayer, or feelings of joy, or experiences
of His presence - God brings us to a new place
where we know and love Him for who He is alone."
The
dark night of the soul is a common occurrence
to all who are seeking hard after God. I wish
I had understood it many years ago when my husband
and I entered into a season of darkness that lasted
a number of years. I didn't understand at the
time what was happening to us, but now in looking
back, I see it as the most important time in our
spiritual journey with God. It not only brought
us personally into a depth with God that we had
never known before, it has been the key and the
stepping stone into the ministry we are now involved
in called the Elijah Company, Inc. and Intercessors
Arise.
"I
assure you, most solemnly I tell you, unless
a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies,
it remain (just one grain; it never becomes
more but lives) by itself alone. But if it dies,
it produces many others, and yields a rich harvest."
(John 12:24, Amplified)
In
order to bring us deeper, God needs to strip us
of ourselves. He needs to remove all the wisdom
and ways of the world, all the sense of human
accomplishment we may have in our ministry, and
all of our nervous energy and soulish activity.
He wants to draw us to Himself alone, and He even
takes away the good things in order to give us
the best. Although this time may seem bewildering,
God has His perfect plan, and He knows every moment
what He is doing. He lets us experience a dry
and lonely desert experience where He, alone,
sustains our spiritual life. He teaches us the
ways of the Spirit. Moses, Job, Joseph, Paul and
a number of Biblical characters went through a
dark night of the soul. This is where they learned
valuable spiritual truths. This is a special class
in the school of God's Spirit from which we gain
much spiritual strength for whatever we do for
God in the future. It is personalized with our
name on it, and it is designed to change us from
the inside out. It is a choice place to be.
We can learn a lesson from the Jewish potters.
"When
Jewish potters make new pots, they set aside
the very best pots and pottery for special treatment.
After they put their name on the underside of
these extra good pieces, they put them away
in a cold, damp room for storage, away from
the public view. It is only when the more selective
buyers ask for the 'very best' of the potter's
products that the craftsman will retrieve the
chosen pots from their hidden storage place."
Lori Wilke
The
dark night of the soul is the most difficult experience
for each one of us. God doesn't seem to tell
us what we are going through. It would be easy
if He would just say, "This is only a test".
It seems as if our life has reached a place where
there is no way out except God. This is where
He wants us, which is a place of absolutely dependent
and at the very end of our human ability and resources.
I remember this dark night well. It has become
a memorial in my everyday experience for I was
marked for life by the lessons I learned during
those days and years of loneliness and loss. It
is the place where we find our deepest treasure
and where we find true hope in God alone. It is
the place where we are set free from ourselves
in a deeper way. The dark night of the soul has
been the place where our life ministry was truly
birthed in all its fullness. But I must admit
that it was extremely difficult each and every
day, and it seemed as if that dark season would
never end. But God always knows what He was
doing. He is developing a hidden place where true
faith and fruitfulness is birthed.
"The
Master Potter may have placed you in a cold
storage room for a season while you mature and
grow strong in the silent darkness. You can
only wait for the appointed time of the Lord
when He, with pleasure, places you into His
service. To believers, though, the life of faith
doesn't always make sense. You may feel lost
in that dark night of the soul, seemingly gathering
dust in the Lord's storage room of the wilderness.
Set your heart and desire on the Master Himself,
not merely on the outward activities and blessings
of his household." Lori Wilke
How
to Face the Dark Night of the Soul
"Yet
how do you pray when the heavens are silent,
when you go to the fountain only to find that
it seems to have dried up? Prayer through the
dark night is unlike any other kind; by necessity,
it draws upon some untapped reservoir of raw
faith."
- Trust
God and rely on Him - You may feel that
you made some mistake during this dark time,
but God is really maturing you for greatness.
- Study
the Biblical characters
- Realize that they spent time in the desert.
Study the lives of Moses, Elijah, David, John
the Baptist and Paul. All of them experienced
the dark night of the soul.
- Obey
God, and walk in repentance
- Let God touch every area of your life with
His refining fire. Repent as He lets the weaknesses
and sin in your life come to the surface.
- Cling
to God and His Word
- He is the one who will carry you through this
season of your life. Don't hurry it along but
learn to cling to God even when He seems far
away. Hold onto Scriptural promises.
- Wait
on God in persistent prayer
- Keep on pursuing God, and cry out to Him in
persistent prayer. Wait on God for He has an
appointed time to release you.
- Love
God for who He is
- Learn to be a lover of God for Himself and
not what He can give you. Worship and praise
Him throughout the day.
- Thank
God for this hidden place
- Recognize that it is a necessary part of your
growth. Character is not developed overnight.
There will come a time where you are eternally
grateful for this season in your life. Thank
Him now.
- Recommit
your soul to God afresh
- Don't give up or complain. It will only lengthen
this time. Commit your life afresh to God's
purposes and plans. Allow Him to re-fashion
your life according to His design.
"Who
among you fears the Lord and obeys the word
of his servant? Let him who walks in the dark,
who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord
and rely on his God." (Isaiah 50:10)
"Proven
vessels have been oven-baked and refired again
and again in the kiln of commitment until they've
proven their ability to withstand the pressures
and temperature of the fire. Once you cry out,
'God, I want to be like you,' then you will
probably be broken up, made over into a brand-new
vessel, and whisked out of the bright light
into a deserted and dark back storage room until
the appointed time. Remember, diamonds were
just pieces of coal formed in a dark, pressurized
environment." Lori Wilke
I
thank God for every day I spent in the dark night
of the soul. Without it, I could never do
what I am doing today. It was the hardest time
in my life, but it changed me forever. Now I treasure
the seclusion I learned during that season of
my life. I can now look forward in a new way to
desert moments when God brings me alone to Himself
because I know how He is deepening the quality
of my life. I can embrace my present health problems
as I wait for God's deliverance because of learning
these lessons in the dark. I do not know how any
of us as intercessors can do without this dark
night of the soul, because through the dark night
God brings forth the brightest faith, the greatest
freedom, and a diamond that could be formed in
no other way, not just for ourselves alone but
for the world. For those of you who are facing
a dark night, I encourage you to embrace this
season for you will truly receive memorial stones
that will change you forever for God's glory and
for your greatest good. A glorious dawn awaits
you.
"I
know now that for every dark night, a glorious
dawn awaits. Wherever you may be in your spiritual
journey, I pray that this truth will encourage
you to reach for all God is, regardless of the
cost. He will not hide Himself from you even
one minute beyond His sovereign plan. He holds
you, even when you feel completely deserted,
and He's shedding His love into your heart.
Cling to Him through the darkness. The trials
that overwhelm right now will one day appear
as memorial stones - monuments that testify
to His great love and power to redeem. This
is the legacy of the soul's dark night." Unnamed
quotes by Tracey McCary Rhodes
For
additional training on the intercessor and difficulty;
the prayer of lament and disciplining your soul,
read the book called Intercessors Arise - Book
3 by Debbie Przybylski.
Training
Links
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