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Jun 17th 2009 Light in the Dark Night of the Soul
Topic Started: Jun 22 2009, 08:24 PM (244 Views)
lightninboy

Have you ever experienced a “Dark Night of the Soul”? When God seems silent, the Bible seems devoid of meaning, every day seems to grow blacker, and other Christians seems like aliens from another planet? In such times, you will often experience doubts and fears about things that you never would have doubted or feared in times of blessing and being close to God.

In these times, you will often hear Christians say, “Don’t doubt in the dark what God revealed in the light.” In other words, if God taught you something, or gave you a vision for your life in a time of blessing and being close to God, then don’t doubt these things in times of darkness, difficulty, and depression.

I’ve gone through several “Dark Nights” in my life. And while I used to believe this “Don’t doubt in the dark” slogan, I am beginning to question it’s wisdom. In the first place, who defines “dark”? Isn’t it the storms of life, and times of feeling distant from God that are able to make us cry out for Him even more, and learn to trust Him even more? Such times can, of course, drive us away from God, but (as the shirt says) “If the pain doesn’t kill you, it will only make you stronger.” Maybe dark nights are when God is at work on us the most! Maybe dark nights of the soul are actually brilliant days of refining fire! I imagine that when we look back at our life, we will see that it was in the “dark nights” that God was most at work in our lives.

Which means that the doubts and fears we have in such times may actually be from God. Maybe, the best think you can do in a dark night is question some of the things you thought you knew from the “warm and fuzzy days of light.” Maybe it’s the truths we learn in the thunderous dark that God really wants to teach us, but we long for the emotions and feelings of a day at the beach.

Let me give you a personal example from my own life. In the light of the day, I was a pastor. I loved being a pastor. Every day, when I went to work, I couldn’t believe that I got paid to do what I was doing. And I think I was a fairly decent pastor. Not the best, but decent. They were giddy times for me. My family suffered, but I personally enjoyed it. Looking back, I think it was the time I felt the closest to God.

The last three years of my life have been a dark night. Storms and distress. Fear and failure. Depression. Anguish. Anger. During this time, I became quite disillusioned with the “religion” of Christianity. I saw it as empty and shallow. My view of God changed. My view of “ministry” changed. Several elements of my theology changed. During this time, people kept saying, “Don’t doubt in the dark what God revealed in the day. Stay the course. Things will get better.”

But I didn’t go back.

And now, I am somewhere in the dusk (or dawn?) between the night and day. And I’m trying to decide where the true light was. Was it when I was a pastor? Or was that just “ignorance is bliss” and now I know the real truth, revealed by God in the darkness and the stormy sea? Knowing what I know now, I wouldn’t go back to the way I was, or the way I thought, for anything. It was a painful route to get here, but I would do it all over again if it was the only way to learn what I have learned.

So maybe the darkness is light after all.
No I will not, No I will not
Not go quietly
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lightninboy

Comments:

1.bullet on 17 Jun 2009 at 9:51 pm #

One day we will sit and watch the children play and share our stories. I know this is true.


2.Kirk on 18 Jun 2009 at 12:13 am #

“During this time, I became quite disillusioned with the “religion” of Christianity. I saw it as empty and shallow.”

that’s me too. I roll my eyes a lot these days. the problem would easily be solved if people just thought for themselves once in a while and actually read the Bible without injecting their own ideas into the concepts it presents but of course they don’t have the time to do something silly like that.


3.elna on 18 Jun 2009 at 2:10 am #

My dear friend in Christ you are just walking Job’s road. Like Job said at the end of it all “before I have only heard about you, now I know you!”

all the ‘heroes’ of the Bible went through their own desert. In this way the Bible is in total opposition to the “prosperity gospel”.


4.Anonymous on 21 Jun 2009 at 2:32 pm #

Hi Jeremy,

I don’t know where you are exactly today in you journey with God, but I am so thankful that He created you and brought you into my life when He did. You have been a help to me in the past. I still have those answers you gave me when you were so kind to give an answer as best you knew. And they were GOOD answers. Whatever you’ve changed your mind on, I want you to know that I care about you and your family. I KNOW God is with you and hasn’t forsaken you no matter what’s going on!!! And I don’t pretend to know!!!

I’m a “senior citizen” now (a nice way of saying “old”), and even in the days that God seems far away, I know He’s with me, loves me, and hasn’t left me. Today I said to my husband, I’m going to stop asking God to use me in future days for His glory. That’s almost like saying…… tomorrow God use me. I want Him to use me NOW….. TODAY!!! Even when I go through dark days, I want to be faithful to Him. I don’t want to wait until “future days” to serve Him.
So in your “dark days” just trust Him. If everything’s falling apart, trust Him anyway. He’s there for you TODAY, NOW!!! So whatever you’re going through, I’m praying that God will help you to see as He sees.

I keep remembering the butterful story Wendy told of your girls. I still have that little clipping and picture. It’s such a beautiful picture of God’s love and care for us.

Sorry to say a bunch of words that probably have no bearing on what you just printed, but you left me confused as to what was going on in your life, and I just wanted to say you’re important to me.

In Jesus’ love,
Diane


5 Jeremy Myers on 24 Jun 2009 at 1:36 pm #
Diane,
Good to hear from you!
Just so you know, to the best of my knowledge and recolection, I haven’t changed views on anything that I might have discussed with you. I am still thoroughly “FG”!
Say hello to Dale!


6 Anonymous on 25 Jun 2009 at 10:36 pm #
Hi Jeremy,
I’m so glad to hear you say that. You are a very honest and open person. When you’ve got questions or doubts, you say so.
I must admit, I feel bad for you when I read about your struggles. You’re such a neat guy with such a neat family. I just want you to experience the joy of the Lord daily. Whatever you’re going through, I just know you’ll come through it.
BTW…….. I miss getting those great “Truth In Love” teachings that you use to send out. THEY WERE GOOD!!! I always learned something from them. I also miss reading the little gyms that Wendy would write on the girls in those papers. If you ever start up again, let me know!!!
I see I misspelled a word above. It should have been “butterfly.”

Thanks for your friendly reply. I’ll say hi to Dale from you.
Enjoy the Lord each day because He loves you with an everlasting love and is at work in your life for good.
Your friend ALWAYS because of Jesus,
Diane


7 Anonymous on 25 Jun 2009 at 10:46 pm #
CORRECTION…..
In the comment I made on June 21st, I misspelled a word. I meant to say……
“butterfly story.” Oooooops! That was a great story that I’ll never forget about your girls. You should share that one again with your readers sometime.
It’s a KEEPER!!!

Diane
Edited by lightninboy, Jul 29 2009, 01:42 PM.
No I will not, No I will not
Not go quietly
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