Cry out to God during the dark night of the soul
Read Psalm 13:1-6
Dark Night of the Soul is a poem written by St John of the Cross (1542–1591). He describes the painful experiences that we sometimes endure as we seek to grow in spiritual maturity and in our relationship with God.
There are periods when it appears that God has forgotten us. It seems that he has hidden his face. For some inexplicable reason we don’t sense his presence with us. Every day seems to be a struggle – wrestling with our thoughts. Every day seems to bring sorrow. We seem to be losing the battle and the enemy seems to be triumphing over us.
In the middle of this dark night David continues to cry out to God, ‘Look on me and answer, O Lord my God. Give light to my eyes’. We see four things that we should continue to do during the ‘dark night of the soul’:
Keep praying
David pours out his heart to God. It is so important not to give up praying even when God seems far away.
Keep trusting
‘But I trust in your unfailing love’. ‘I’ve thrown myself headlong into your arms’ . It is relatively easy to have faith when things are going well, but the test of faith is when things do not appear to be going well.
Keep rejoicing
David does not rejoice in the trials, but in God’s salvation. He says, ‘my heart rejoices in your salvation’. ‘I’m celebrating your rescue’.
Keep worshipping
‘I will sing to the Lord’. David remembers all that God has done for him. As we begin to praise and worship God, it brings perspective to our problems.
Lord, I worship you today. Thank you for your goodness to me. Thank you for your salvation. Thank you for Jesus, my Saviour. Lord, I trust you for the battles ahead. I trust in your unfailing love.
