Dark Night of the Soul: A Term Paper

Ebb and Flow

6.What did you learn from the dark night of the soul material?

I remember a pastor at my church once saying, "Your relationship with God will ebb and flow, just like any other relationship you have." One only has to go as far as the Psalms to see this truth. Psalm 77:2 says, "When I was in deep trouble, I searched for the Lord. All night long I prayed, with hands lifted toward heaven, but my soul was not comforted."

But wait? If we're going to church, reading our Bible, and praying consistently aren't we supposed to spiritually glow? Shouldn't we be filled with the Holy Spirit indefinitely?

That's not how relationships work. Sometimes even when you're putting in the work, you don't see the results. This happens even in the spiritual life. Prayer becomes dry. Bible reading is dull. Going to church is just another appointment.

This isn't a time to panic. It's a natural part of our relationship with God. Just as our relationships with our friends and family ebbs, so does our relationship with God.

But God is always present. Colossians 1:27 says, "For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory." And Isaiah 41:10 says, "Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be discouraged, for I am your God."

God doesn't move out once He moves in. He's with His children permanently. But sometimes He feels far off, as if nothing we say has reached His ears.

Most pastors and theologians once thought that the longer we walked with God, the closer we would feel, as if we were climbing the spiritual mountaintop and someday we would reach the top and our skin would glow like Moses's once did. But they found, instead, that this closeness to God only increased consistently at the beginning of the journey. It's as if God wanted to show these new followers His beauty and power; to show who He was to people who hadn't known Him. But after some time of maturity, many expressed a feeling of desolation. It was as if God had abandoned them; all the beauty and power they once saw completely vanished. They were not doing anything differently. These followers had not turned away from God... so where had He gone?

The term "dark night of the soul" started with John Cross in the 16th century. This was a description for these times of desolation, when God felt distant or absent. This dark night is not a punishment. It's actually a gift.

In the beginning of our relationship with God, He meets our need for pleasure and joy in the relationship. There is a spiritual high, something that cannot be matched by any pleasure on earth. And as we go through hard times in our mature walk with God, He will send us these highs - these gifts of consolation - to give us strength. Even Jesus needed an angel of comfort (Luke 22:43), and God will not withhold His comfort from His children.

But this comfort is not constant. Sometimes God takes away the safety blanket and replaces it with something we didn't ask for: a mirror.