Dark Night of the Soul

[Mije]

Anyone have a period where ‘God left you’ and you felt you were all alone? This of course is ridiculous. Right?

[TrueFollowerOfChrist]

ABSOLUTELY. I don't think there is a Christian in the world who can honestly say they've never felt like that once in their life.  Even great men throughout church history have written books about feeling God's absence in their lives. It's 100% normal to feel like this at times. That's why it's especially important to trust scripture over feelings. God promises he will NEVER leave us.  We must remember that's God's promise is far more important than our feelings. 

[Michael37]

14 minutes ago, Mije said:

Anyone have a period where ‘God left you’ and you felt you were all alone? This of course is ridiculous. Right?

Not ridiculous if you are trapped without any illumination, or under the condemnation of the Devil.

[coheir]

The answer to that question is

Its like this turn it over and its like that

If you look at this side God left you.

If you look at that side you left God.

He promises not to leave us so in these times we have to look inside

There are times we are not aware we did something wrong

 

[Who me]

Ever watch a parent helping a todler learn to walk?

 

They start off holding both hands, progress to holding one hand, then they abandon the child to walk three or more steps on their own to where they are waiting to catch them.

 

No Christian is ever alone, abandoned by God, it might feel like that but learn to distrust your feelings and to trust facts.

[TheBlade]

16 hours ago, Mije said:

Anyone have a period where ‘God left you’ and you felt you were all alone? This of course is ridiculous. Right?

Well yes ridiculous and a lie  We would have to call Him a liar when He said I will never leave you nor forsake you. The thing is we are the temple not made by hands so He is within us. Crawling He is in us.. walking He is in us, falling He is in us picking us up. 

Edited February 16, 2023 by TheBlade

[Sower]

17 hours ago, Mije said:

Anyone have a period where ‘God left you’ and you felt you were all alone? This of course is ridiculous. Right?

Yes. Very uncomfortable, confusing. I keep a book, by Oswald Chambers "My Utmost for His Highest", handy and read a short study regular. Here is a couple below that may be applicable, or not. The book is great.

The Discipline of Hearing

By Oswald Chambers

 

Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. —Matthew 10:27

 

 

Sometimes God puts us through the experience and discipline of darkness to teach us to hear and obey Him. Song birds are taught to sing in the dark, and God puts us into “the shadow of His hand” until we learn to hear Him (Isaiah 49:2). “Whatever I tell you in the dark…” — pay attention when God puts you into darkness, and keep your mouth closed while you are there. Are you in the dark right now in your circumstances, or in your life with God? If so, then remain quiet. If you open your mouth in the dark, you will speak while in the wrong mood— darkness is the time to listen. Don’t talk to other people about it; don’t read books to find out the reason for the darkness; just listen and obey. If you talk to other people, you cannot hear what God is saying. When you are in the dark, listen, and God will give you a very precious message for someone else once you are back in the light.

After every time of darkness, we should experience a mixture of delight and humiliation. If there is only delight, I question whether we have really heard God at all. We should experience delight for having heard God speak, but mostly humiliation for having taken so long to hear Him! Then we will exclaim, “How slow I have been to listen and understand what God has been telling me!” And yet God has been saying it for days and even weeks. But once you hear Him, He gives you the gift of humiliation, which brings a softness of heart— a gift that will always cause you to listen to God now.

 

Vision and Darkness

By Oswald Chambers

When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. —Genesis 15:12

 

Whenever God gives a vision to a Christian, it is as if He puts him in “the shadow of His hand” (Isaiah 49:2). The saint’s duty is to be still and listen. There is a “darkness” that comes from too much light— that is the time to listen. The story of Abram and Hagar in Genesis 16 is an excellent example of listening to so-called good advice during a time of darkness, rather than waiting for God to send the light. When God gives you a vision and darkness follows, wait. God will bring the vision He has given you to reality in your life if you will wait on His timing. Never try to help God fulfill His word. Abram went through thirteen years of silence, but in those years all of his self-sufficiency was destroyed. He grew past the point of relying on his own common sense. Those years of silence were a time of discipline, not a period of God’s displeasure. There is never any need to pretend that your life is filled with joy and confidence; just wait upon God and be grounded in Him (see Isaiah 50:10-11).

Do I trust at all in the flesh? Or have I learned to go beyond all confidence in myself and other people of God? Do I trust in books and prayers or other joys in my life? Or have I placed my confidence in God Himself, not in His blessings? “I am Almighty God…”— El-Shaddai, the All-Powerful God (Genesis 17:1). The reason we are all being disciplined is that we will know God is real. As soon as God becomes real to us, people pale by comparison, becoming shadows of reality. Nothing that other saints do or say can ever upset the one who is built on God!

 

 

[Marathoner]

I've been refraining from commenting in this topic because of a loss for words. What our brother @Sower shared above lends a voice to what was otherwise unspeakable for me. Whatever we receive from the Lord is for our greatest benefit, especially when He was silent during all of those years when I endured one calamity after the other.

When I had learned those things I needed to know, introduced to the scriptures and the Body of Christ, I was held in the shadow of His hand for a very long time (close to 20 years). I remember encountering Oswald Chambers' writing once, but I never did lay eyes on what Sower shared here. 

He describes what I couldn't. 

[Mije]

4 hours ago, Sower said:

Abram went through thirteen years of silence

It is hard to remember sometimes the years between verses in scripture. ‘Darkness’ may last years but it is not an indication of rejection- 

3 hours ago, Marathoner said:

Whatever we receive from the Lord is for our greatest benefit

It is an indication of something moving in God’s will perhaps- but it is so hard to bear at times without fearing the worst.

Very timely posts @Sower and @Marathoner

[Marathoner]

It can indeed be too much to bear, but we are not in the hand of the Lord who has no regard for our troubles. He remembers that our frame is dust.

I'm on my phone so I can't copy and paste passages of scripture. I'll point to Psalm 119:71 to reference the silence I endured for almost 20 years: It was good that I was afflicted, for through those dark times I came to know God in the manner which Oswald Chambers wrote about above. 

The scripture tells us that the Lord disciplines every son whom He receives (Hebrews 12); discipline is never pleasant while we endure it. What I suffered was precisely what I needed! The Lord prepared me for what I face now in the worst part of this city, where 85% of all reported crimes happen. The suffering is horrible to witness. It's easy to be overwhelmed when you walk in this place which locals call the Warzone.

There are murders, kidnappings, drive-by shootings, addicts dying on the sidewalks, people sleeping in dumpsters and lately, hand grenades have been found here. That would explain the explosions I hear now and then. 

The Lord prepared me to serve Him here. 

Edited February 17, 2023 by Marathoner
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