Surviving the Dark Night of the Soul

A mystic named John of the cross coined the phrase- "the dark night of the soul" a long time ago. He said it was the moments before the light- when the dark seems darkest as we fight through painful suffering to grow & mature in our faith. If you've been alive longer than a few years, you've probably encountered one of these seasons- when things aren't working, nothing is going right, and everything seems stacked against you.  It's painful- and for those of us in ministry, it's all too often inflicted by the very church we serve.

I vividly remember a conversation with a personnel committee in my early days of ministry, I'd been given a "growth plan" to work through and thought I was doing well.  But, in that meeting, I was told I wasn't growing fast enough- that led to a discussion about options and led to me being asked to tender my resignation.  It hurt- and I'll be honest- it led me to a dark place: questioning my faith, questioning my calling, depression & angst.  It was enough to leave my wife wondering if I needed professional counseling (I probably should have)- as I was a shell of the man she'd married and lived with, withdrawn into my own personal hell.  However, by the grace of God I came through my dark night of the soul into the light again.  I returned to ministry and have seen God do amazing things in the lives of students, in part because I've walked through that valley.

One of the most amazing things about Christianity is the humanity of Jesus, especially as His experience sustains and carries us:

This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for He faced all of the same testings we do, yet He did not sin.  So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God.  There we will receive His mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. (Hebrews 4.15-16 NLT)

See, our God didn't just tell us to buck it up and "man up," but sympathizes with us because He's been there!  And if our God has been there, He can help us through it.  In fact, we see Jesus suffering mightily Thursday night in the garden of Gethsemani-

Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.” He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed. He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying,“My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine."... Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed,“My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done.”... So he went to pray a third time, saying the same things again. (Matthew 26.37-39, 42, 44 NLT)

 Notice the verbiage- Jesus, God's son, was "anguished and distressed" and told His disciples that His soul was "crushed with grief to the point of death."  Does that sound like someone who's happy about life and doing fine?  In fact, in Luke's gospel, we see Jesus sweating drops of blood- a condition know as hematidrosis where stress & anxiety brings on blood from the forehead, nails, & other skin surfaces.  He knew what was coming and He wasn't looking forward to it!  That same Jesus is the one who understand our weaknesses- because He's been there.  Because of that knowledge, we know we can (and will!) make it through the dark nights of our soul.  When Jesus was crushed with the knowledge of His impending suffering and death, He had focus- on the end.  He knew that there was something of worth beyond the suffering.  He knew that Friday was coming- the pain, the suffering, His death.  But, He also knew that Sunday was coming.

S.M. Lockridge preached these words years ago & Tony Campolo famously preached these words many times, but it's fitting to read and hear them again-

It's Friday, Jesus is arrested in the garden where He was praying.  But Sunday's coming. It's Friday, the disciples are hiding and Peter's denying that He knows the Lord.  But Sunday's coming. It's Friday, Jesus is standing before the high priest of Israel, silent as a lamb before the slaughter.  But Sunday's coming.
It's Friday, Jesus is beaten, mocked, and spit upon.  But Sunday's a coming.
It's Friday, those Roman soldiers are flogging our Lord with a leather scourge that has bits of bones and glass and metal, tearing at His flesh.  But Sunday's coming. It's Friday, the Son of Man stands firm as they press the crown of thorns down into His brow.  But Sunday's coming. It's Friday, see Him walking to Calvary, the blood dripping from His body.  See the cross crashing down on His back as He stumbles beneath the load.  It's Friday, but Sunday's a coming!
It's Friday, see those Roman soldiers driving the nails into the feet and hands of my Lord.  Hear my Jesus cry, "Father, forgive them."  It's Friday, but Sunday's coming! It's Friday, my Jesus is hanging on the cross, bloody and dying- but Sunday's coming.  It's Friday, the sky grows dark, the earth begins to tremble, and He who knew no sin became sin for us.  The Holy God who will not abide with sin pours out His wrath on that perfect sacrificial lamb who cries out, "my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"  What a horrible cry, but Sunday is coming.  It's Friday, and at the moment of Jesus' death, the veil in the temple that separates sinful man from Holy God was torn from the top to the bottom because Sunday's coming. It's Friday, Jesus is hanging on the cross, heaven is weeping and hell is partying.  But that's because it's Friday, and they don't know it, but Sunday is a coming.  And on that horrible day 2000 years ago, Jesus the Christ, the Lord of glory, the only begotten Son of God, the only perfect man dies on the cross of Calvary.  Satan thought that he had won the victory- surely he had destroyed the Son of God.  Finally, he had disproved the prophecy God had uttered in the garden and the one who was to crush his head had been destroyed.  Ah, but that was Friday.... and Sunday is coming!(S.M. Lockridge, "Sunday's Coming")

So as you face down the darkness that is darkest right before the dawn, when you cannot see the light and it seems it will never come, remember that Jesus has been there and understands.  Most of all, remember- it's only Friday, Sunday is coming...