"Finding
Freedom" part 4
The Dark Night of the Soul
by
Greg Hanson
Sunrise Wesleyan Church
March 21, 2010
This
past Thursday night was a miserable night in the Hanson household. Can
I tell you about it? It’s actually a little gross, but it’s life.
Actually, it all started off quite well. Thursday evening we had
supper, after supper Noah fell asleep in my arms while Shera gave Nate
a bath, and we had both kids in bed at a reasonable time. Everything
was going great, but that was about to end.
A few hours later,
just as we were getting ready to turn in ourselves, we heard some
coughing and whining coming from the boys’ room. It sounded like Noah,
so Shera went in to check on him and it actually wasn’t Noah… it was
Nate. Nate had thrown up all over himself and all over his pajamas and
all over his bed, and he was whining because he was still half-asleep
and he laying in this mess and he didn’t know what to do.
I know… it’s not a pretty picture. Just be glad you weren’t there!
Anyway,
Shera took Nate into the bathroom to clean him up while I stripped down
the bed, used some disinfectant on the mattress, and put on some new
sheets.
But Nate was obviously still not feeling well, so I took
him out to the living room, I sat in the La-Z-Boy, and Nate sat in my
lap and just kind of laid against me. And for the next three hours – in
10-20 minute increments – Nate continued to be sick. Until finally,
around 3 a.m. I finally got Nate back in bed and crawled into bed
myself.
And I wish that were the end of the story. But about 3
½ hours later, Nate started crying and calling “Daddy”. Shera was
already up getting ready to head to work, so she went in to check on
him first… and she discovered that he was now… well, he was now
shooting from both ends. So once again, she took him into the bathroom
to clean him up while I stripped and disinfected the bed. And that went
on throughout the next day. (And actually, right into Saturday.)
But
you know what? That was a miserable night. And unfortunately, it’s one
that will probably be repeated a few times in the years to come. But
poor Nate… he’s two years old! He didn’t understand what was going on.
He didn’t know why his tummy hurt. He didn’t know why every time he
would begin to nod off he would be jolted awake for another round. He
just didn’t understand what was happening to him. He was tired, he was
aching, he was frustrated, he wanted to sleep… he was hungry and wanted
to eat, but every time he would take a bite of food or even a sip of
water, it would come back up again… It was a miserable night.
Way
back in the 16th century, there was a Roman Catholic priest named Saint
John of the Cross who wrote a poem about a different kind of miserable
night. He called it the “dark night of the soul,” and he described the
hardships and setbacks and painful experiences that people often face
as they strive to grow in spiritual maturity and in union with God.
And
that term… the dark night of the soul… has come to be used to refer to
a crisis that a person may experience in their spiritual journey… often
a prolonged crisis… and it might include loneliness, disappointment,
frustration, hopelessness, despair, a sense of spiritual dryness, you
feel defeated, you don’t think you’re going anywhere, you might feel
like God has distanced Himself from you, you might even feel abandoned
or disillusioned by other Christ-followers. It’s the dark night of the
soul, and some of you may know what I’m talking about. Maybe all of you
do. Maybe you’ve experienced it in the past, or maybe you’re
experiencing it now.
Just like Nate with his Dark Night of the
Stomach Flu this past Thursday night/Friday morning, maybe you’ve
experienced the Dark Night of the Soul. Actually, it was F. Scott
Fitzgerald who wrote…
“In a real dark night of the soul it is always three o'clock in the
morning.”
~ F. Scott Fitzgerald
That
was certainly the case with Nate this week. But maybe you’ve felt like
that too, in a spiritual sense. Maybe you just don’t understand what’s
going on in your life. You don’t understand why you’re hurting. You
don’t understand why you just don’t seem to be making any progress. You
want to be nourished, you want to be fed, you want to move forward
spiritually, but you just can’t seem to keep anything down. You’re
spiritually dry and hungry, and you’re at a loss to explain why.
And
the real kicker is, when you’re going through one of these dark nights
of the soul, even the spiritual habits that usually can help you grow
seem totally useless. You pray but don’t sense the communion with God
that you once did. You worship but don’t feel His presence like you
used to. You study His Word but don’t feel closer to the Author. You
meet with His Church but you don’t feel the sense of community. You
fast, but all you feel is hungry. You do what you can to live the way
God would have you live, but you have no assurance of His presence, no
feeling of spiritual progress. That’s the dark night of the soul.
We’ve
been talking over the past few weeks about finding freedom: Freedom
from bondage to sin, freedom from your past, freedom from addictions…
and today, we’re going to talk about finding freedom when it comes to
all these feeling that come with the dark night of the soul. But this
is different from everything we’ve been talking about so far in this
series. So far, it’s been about finding freedom from things… freedom
from sin, freedom from the past, freedom from addiction. But today,
we’re not talking about freedom from the dark nights of the soul.
Because as we’ll discover, they’re actually a good thing. No, we’re not
talking about freedom from the dark night; we’re talking about freedom
in the dark night. And you discover that freedom by understanding what
the Dark Night of the Soul is all about.
(And by the way, when I talk about the Dark Night, I am not referring
to Batman. At least not this morning.)
So
let’s get at it. We’re going to look at a few examples of people who
experienced those dark nights, and see what we can learn about how to
handle them ourselves. Let’s start with who’s probably best known for
his dark night of the soul… Job.
Exhibit
1:
Job
faced the “Dark Night” after losing his wealth, his children, and his
health
Job
endured tremendous suffering. Job went from having it all to having
almost nothing. You can read about his story in the Old Testament book
that bears his name. And in the middle of all his trials and suffering,
he cried out to God. This is how he felt…
Job 30:20 (NLT)
“I cry to you, O God, but you don’t answer me. I stand before you, and
you don’t bother to look.”
That
was his dark night of the soul. He felt completely disconnected from
God and abandoned by God. Have you ever felt like that? Like God was
nowhere to be found? Well, for Job, that feeling of abandonment went on
for 37 chapters. God was completely silent.
And remember, Job
had done nothing wrong! Job was considered a righteous man. In fact, we
know that God was actually proud of him. But Job still lost everything.
If anyone ever had a reason to feel betrayed by God, Job did. And he
didn’t understand everything he was going through. He cried out to God
and received no apparent answer.
But despite what he was going
through, I think Job understood something that we need to understand,
too. Even though these dark nights of the soul may be difficult… they
may be painful… they are actually for our good.
You see, God
uses the Dark Nights of the Soul to help us move from feelings to
faith. When our relationship with Him is based solely on warm fuzzies,
that’s a pretty shallow relationship. But when we’re able to love Him
and trust Him and obey Him and worship Him even when we don’t feel His
presence, that’s true spiritual maturity.
Your spouse, your
kids, your best friend… do you love them? Of course you do. But do you
always feel like you love them? Of course not. But real love is not
dependent on feelings. It’s not based on emotions.
It’s the same
way with God. If your relationship with Him is based solely on
feelings, then it’s nothing more than a schoolyard crush. And your
relationship won’t move beyond it until it moves beyond your feelings.
As
one wise philosopher put it, “Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes
you don’t.” The simple truth is, you can’t rely on your feelings
because they’re not reliable. They fluctuate from day to day. And any
relationship founded on feelings will be subject to the ebbs and flows
of those feelings. This is in your notes:
“Dark
Nights” help me move on to spiritual maturity
It’s
in the Dark Night when you learn to depend on God, where you learn to
trust Him, where you learn to worship Him not because of how you feel
or for what’s in it for you, but simply because of who He is.
You
see, God intends for the Dark Nights to draw you toward Him, not push
you away. Although ultimately, you decide which will happen. Job
understood this. Listen to what he said. He talked about searching for
God and said…
Job 23:8-10 (NLT)
“I go east, but he is not
there. I go west, but I cannot find him. I do not see him in the north,
for he is hidden. I turn to the south, but I cannot find him. But he
knows where I am going. And when he has tested me like gold in a fire,
he will pronounce me innocent.”
Job knew full well that no
matter how unpleasant the process, it was necessary for him to grow and
mature and be refined like gold being refined in the fire. So even when
he felt abandoned by God, he boldly declared…
Job 23:12 (NIV)
I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the
words of his mouth more than my daily bread.
Floyd McClung, in his book entitled Finding Friendship With God, wrote:
“You
wake up one morning and all your ‘spiritual feelings’ are gone. You
pray but nothing happens. You rebuke the devil but it doesn’t change
anything. You go through spiritual exercises, have your friends pray
for you, confess every sin you can imagine, then you go around asking
forgiveness of everyone you know. You fast, still nothing. You begin to
wonder how long this spiritual gloom will last. It feels like your
prayers bounce off the ceiling. In utter desperation you cry out:
‘What’s the matter with me?’ This is a normal part of the testing and
maturing of your friendship with God. We all go through it! It’s
painful, but absolutely vital to developing your faith. You see, God is
always present, even when you’re unaware of Him. His presence is too
profound to be measured by intellect or emotion. He’s more concerned
that you trust Him, than that you feel Him. Faith, not feelings, is
what pleases God.”
~ Floyd McClung
Exhibit
2:
The
Israelites faced the “Dark Night” in the wilderness
Their
Dark Night was a sense of hopelessness, despair, fear, not knowing how
God would provide… they felt like they would die in the wilderness. It
really was a spiritual crisis, and it could have been their time to
shine… but they didn’t respond to it very well.
Now, this is
after Moses led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt but before they
arrived at what they called The Promised Land. And they hadn’t been out
there very long… only about a month. They’d end up spending 40 years in
the wilderness, but at this point it looked like they would be going
straight to the Promised Land.
They had seen the power of God at
work. They were firsthand witnesses to how God defeated the entire
Egyptian Army at the Red Sea. These Israelites who had been slaves had
been set free by God’s grace. And in the thrill of the moment, they had
worshipped God. They celebrated Him and they celebrated their freedom.
They were on an emotional high. But when those feelings faded, instead
of responding like Job did, they chose to complain.
Actually,
their complaining began just three days after leaving Egypt. They were
having trouble finding a clean source of water to drink, so they
started to turn against their leader, Moses. But God provided water for
them and the complaining subsided for a month. But then they started to
complain again. Here they are complaining in Exodus 16…
Exodus 16:2-3 (NLT)
There, too, the whole community of Israel complained about Moses and
Aaron.
“If
only the Lord had killed us back in Egypt,” they moaned. “There we sat
around pots filled with meat and ate all the bread we wanted. But now
you have brought us into this wilderness to starve us all to death.”
One month. That’s all it took. And they were ready to turn on God and
on the person God had chosen to lead them.
Now,
was the lack of food a serious problem? Of course it was. But instead
of turning to God and trusting Him and seeking His provision, they
chose to complain and accuse and rebel. And on top of all that, they
were wrong. They were remembering a past that didn’t even exist. They
were glamorizing their time in Egypt, and they seem to have forgotten
that they were slaves… they had been beaten and abused there, they had
been worked without mercy, the Egyptians were killing any newborn sons
the Israelites might have…
Yeah, that’s the life they longed
for. Listen, I can understand them feeling disillusioned and abandoned
and worried about how they were going to survive. Those were real
concerns. But instead of going to God and trusting Him to provide for
them… instead of sticking it out because they knew in the end they
could count on Him… they decided to turn on Him and on Moses, the
leader God had given them.
Well, when the complaining and the
dissension reach Moses and his brother Aaron, this is the message they
delivered to the Israelites:
Exodus 16:6-7 (NLT)
So Moses and
Aaron said to all the people of Israel, “By evening you will realize it
was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt. In the morning
you will see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your
complaints, which are against him, not against us. What have we done
that you should complain about us?” Then Moses added, “The LORD will
give you meat to eat in the evening and bread to satisfy you in the
morning…”
In other words, he’s saying…
“Guys, it’s not
going to be much longer. You will soon see that you have not been
abandoned. You will soon realize that the Almighty God has been leading
you all along. He will provide for you. And even though you may have
doubted that and you may have even been tempted to forgo His plan in
favour of your own plan, you will soon see His glory.”
“Dark
Nights” allow me to prove my trust in God
The
Israelites chose to complain instead of trust. That was their response
to their Dark Night. But a better response would have been for them to
trust that God would come through for them… that He would provide the
food and drink that they needed to survive. And perhaps even more
importantly, to trust that He would fulfill Him promises to them and
guide them to their new home. Even though it may take some time, He
would fulfill His promise to them.
“To mature your friendship,
God will test it with periods of seeming separation-times when it feels
as if he has abandoned or forgotten you. God feels a million miles
away. … This is a normal part of the testing and maturing of your
friendship with God. Every Christian goes through it at least once, and
usually several times. It is painful and disconcerting, but it is
absolutely vital for the development of your faith. … Yes, he wants you
to sense his presence, but he's more concerned that you trust him than
that you feel him.”
~ Rick Warren, PDL p.72,73
So if you’re
going through a dark night… where you question what God is doing in
your life and you wonder if He’s even there… if you even feel like God
has left you out to dry… then don’t give up on Him. Don’t turn your
back on His plan for you. Stick with Him and trust Him, believe His
promises, and you will see His glory revealed.
Exhibit
3:
Elijah
faced the “Dark Night” while all alone right after a great victory
This
is a classic case of how perception is not reality. In Elijah’s case,
his perception was that he was all alone. And it wasn’t must a mild
case of loneliness where he was bored and couldn’t think of someone to
call to invite over for a visit. No, he thought he was really alone. He
felt like he was all alone in his faith, he felt defeated, and he felt
like there was no reason for him to go on. Of course, he was wrong. But
that’s how he felt. He was going through a Dark Night of the Soul. So
he complained to God…
1 Kings 19:4 (NLT)
Then he went on
alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a
solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough,
Lord,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who
have already died.”
It’s ironic, because this happened right
after the emotional high of seeing God defeat the prophets of the false
god Baal on Mount Carmel. Elijah went from that mountaintop experience
to just sinking into this deep depression and believing the lie that he
was all alone.
So God decided to take him on a trip to Mount
Sinai, the very mountain where God had given Moses the Ten Commandments
centuries earlier. But as far as Elijah was concerned, he went there to
die.
And it was there that he met up with Earth, Wind and Fire.
[PowerPoint] Okay, he didn’t actually meet with the R&B group,
Earth, Wind and Fire. But the Bible does talk about how Elijah went
there to meet with God. And while he was waiting, there was an
earthquake. But God wasn’t in the earthquake, there was a windstorm,
but God wasn’t in the wind. And there was a fire, but God wasn’t in the
fire. But after all of that had passed, he heard the still small voice
of God. And so Elijah told God how he was feeling…
1 Kings 19:10 (NLT)
“I
have zealously served the Lord God Almighty. But the people of Israel
have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed
every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are
trying to kill me, too.”
You see how lonely he felt? Have you
ever felt like that? Like you were all alone? Like maybe everyone else
was out to get you? Oh, you’ve probably never felt like people were
actually out to kill you. But have you ever felt like you were so
completely alone?
Well, God responded by explaining to Elijah
how he could be part of God’s great plan to bring the nation of Israel
back to Himself, that Elijah’s life had meaning, and He wrapped it up
by promising Elijah…
1 Kings 19:18 (NLT)
“I will preserve 7,000 others in Israel who have never bowed down to
Baal or kissed him!”
You
see, Elijah felt like he was all alone. But that wasn’t reality. And so
God revealed to him that there were 7000 others on his side. Elijah
wasn’t alone. God was with Him, and all these others were with him, too.
“Dark
Nights” reveal the faithfulness of God
When
you’re going through a Dark Night of the Soul, you can be sure that God
will prove Himself faithful. He will not let you down. You remain
faithful to Him, and He will be faithful to you. Remember His promise…
Hebrews 13:5 (TEV)
“For God has said, ‘I will never leave you; I will never abandon you.’”
Like
a father teaching his son to ride a bike, He may have taken His hands
off to let you grow a bit. But He’s still right there. Like it says in
Isaiah…
Isaiah 8:17 (TEV)
The LORD has hidden himself from his people, but I trust him and place
my hope in him.
You
know who experienced a prolonged Dark Night of the Soul? This might
surprise you. Mother Teresa. That great woman of God, the woman who
served God so faithfully and lovingly on the streets of Calcutta,
battled depression, doubt, and spiritual darkness for nearly half a
century. That fact was revealed in some of her writings discovered
after her death. Look at what she wrote…
“Where is my Faith—even
deep down right in there is nothing, but emptiness &
darkness—My
God—how painful is this unknown pain—I have no Faith. …
“For the
first time in years—I have come to love the darkness—for I believe now
that it is part of a very, very small part of Jesus’ darkness &
pain on earth. You have taught me to accept it [as] a ‘spiritual side
of your work’ as you wrote—Today really I felt a deep joy—that Jesus
can’t go anymore through the agony—but that He wants to go through it
in me.
“I just have the joy of having nothing—not even the reality
of the Presence of God. I accept not in my feelings—but with my will,
the Will of God—I accept His will.”
~ Mother Teresa
Wow…
She’s saying, “I have nothing… not even a sense of the presence of God.
My life is full of emptiness and darkness… I don’t even feel my faith.
But I have joy, because I know my faith goes beyond my feelings.”
That’s a woman who was able to see beyond the Dark Night of the Soul…
understanding that it was in actuality an opportunity for her to grow
closer and closer to God.
So… if you’re here this morning
and you feel like you’re smackdab in the middle of your own Dark Night
of the Soul, then don’t give up. Keep prevailing until you make it
through this time of spiritual dryness. Because you will make it
through. And you will be stronger and more mature because of it. And
when you come through the other side, you will have a much stronger and
much more profound understanding of who God is.
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