The Dark Night of the Soul

“Who among you fears the Lord? Who obeys the voice of His Servant? Who walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely upon his God. Look, all you who kindle a fire, who encircle yourselves with sparks; walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks you have kindled - this you shall have from My hand: you shall lie down in torment.” (Is. 50:10-11 NKJV)

This darkness Isaiah spoke of has nothing to do with the world.

This happens only to people who are walking with God and who love God.

It happens to people who are not messing around with sin and who are not ignorant.

There is a darkness that can come to men and women of God that has nothing to do with sin,

nothing to do with lack of wisdom,

and nothing whatsoever to do with the devil.

And the tragedy is, when this darkness comes upon certain people of God,

they don’t understand what it is and it nearly wipes them out.

Everyone who has set his heart on serving God

will have this darkness come at some point.

You wake up one day to find all spiritual feelings gone.

You pray and nothing seems to happen.

You read your Bible, and you understand the words -but there is no light.

You search your heart and find nothing to match what you are going through.

You rebuke the devil, you ask others for prayer,

you go to hear your favorite Christian speaker - and nothing happens.

No counsel seems to help. There are no answers.

St. John of the Cross called it “the dark night of the soul.”

Tozer called it “the ministry of the night,”

and Spurgeon preached about “the child of light walking in darkness.”

Each writer dealt with this differently, but the experience is common.

It is not darkness of wrong or guilt or demonic oppression.

It is not sin. It is instead an inexplicable sense of loss and uncertainty.

It is above all a withdrawn sense of the presence of God.

What do you do when you are going through

“The dark night of the soul?”

You keep going in the same direction you were going

when the darkness came.

What did God say to you before you went into the darkness?

What was your call when the voice of God was clear? Then do it still.

Keep on walking.

Nothing has changed on the path except your perception of it.

Do your duty nevertheless, and keep walking even when the lights go out.

Let him who has no light trust in the name of the Lord.

“The name of the Lord is a strong tower

the righteous runs into it and is safe” (Prov. 18:10)

“...Those who know Your name will put their trust in You.” (Ps. 9:10)

His name is descriptive of what He is - and He is.

He is the uncreated, unchanging, unshakable God.

He is what He always is, and He has not changed in the darkness.

He is not missing because you cannot see Him.

God is committed in everlasting covenant to you.

He is faithful and will remain faithful —

He’s the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb. 13:8)

You’re to get on your knees and say:

“O God, I don’t feel You. I don’t hear You.

But You’re there nevertheless because Your Word doesn’t change. Amen.”

Here is something else you can do:

In this time of darkness, feed on God’s faithfulness.

Remember what His character is like.

When you can’t see the way, open the Book and read again what He is like.

Recall what God has already done.

Others before you have walked in the darkness.

They, too, have found that faith is not a feeling;

it is a trust when there is no evidence to support it.

Isaiah 50 contains a solemn warning:

You cannot take matters into your own hands!

If God does not bring you light, you must not make your own.

But some have tried to do just that.

“If God is not going to speak,” they say in anger,

“then I am going ahead anyway: If He won’t show me the light,

I will make my own.”

What you have then is an extremely brief and temporary light.

It cannot last and will only leave you blinded.

Don’t make the foolish and futile mistake of lighting your own fire.

If God has put you into the darkness, let it do its work in your soul.

He got you in - and you can trust Him to take you out.

If you light your own little match and then go and do your own thing,

you are repeating the fall in the garden.

Walk in what God as already given you to do

and remain faithful until the light comes.

The Purpose Of Darkness

You might be wondering, “Why is God doing this to me?

How long will it last?

How come when I talk to Him He doesn’t answer?

Why am I not getting any revelation in my life?”

This is the test that will save your life.

Fly by your instruments.

And those lessons are basically:

Will you hold onto the truth He’s given you

whether you feel He’s there or not?

You say, “Of course I will!” But how about with no sense of His presence?

Some of you have convictions that God has written and locked into your heart.

You think these are so strong, so unshakable that you will never, ever doubt them.

Then the darkness comes and you start asking questions.

Are these convictions really true or not?

What you will find out is whether you really do believe them.

The darkness will test your convictions.

And when the darkness lifts from your life you trust God.

Light At The End Of The Tunnel

Darkness comes to reveal our need of God and God alone.

Don’t fret over your helplessness and your emptiness -

they will be riches to you.

There is light at the end of the tunnel.

Holding The Hand Of God

God is the One who dwells in thick darkness (Deut. 5:22).

The darkness and the light are alike to Him (Ps. 139:12).

There are riches that can be found only in such darkness,

for there He will show you things about Himself

and about yourself that you will never learn any other way.

Remember, you will find wonderful things in that darkness!

You will hear the voice of God at the end of the tunnel saying,

“Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord.”

“I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year,

‘Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.’

And he replied ‘Go into the darkness and put your hand

Into the hand of God

that shall be to you better than light

And safer than a known way!’

So I went forth and finding the Hand of God trod gladly

Into the night.” (God Knows by Minnie Haskins)