If you have ever gone through a season of spiritual dryness and darkness when God seemed silent and far away no matter how hard you tried to reconnect, then you have experienced a “dark night” experience. This experience can be long and hard, especially for the many Christians who don’t understand it or how to handle it.
Since the summer of 2007, I have experienced more occasions of this dark season, the most recent being within the last five years. And each season seemed darker than the season before. I would love to tell you that each season is easier to handle and understand than the previous, but that’s not the case at all. We find the reason in God’s purpose for the experience.
The Lord uses the dark night of the soul experience to grow us and conform us into the image of his Son. It makes us more aware of his grace and mercy, while also revealing sinful patterns and beliefs that hinder our growth. As painful as the experience can be, it is one of the prominent ways God grows us in holiness and wholeness.
The dark night experience for God’s people is inevitable. You find it in the scriptures. Read the prayers in the book of Psalms and you will find King David struggling with this season. The first verse of Psalm thirteen reads, “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?” Read the biographies and testimonies of Christians throughout history and you will find the same inevitable experiences.
The dark night is also unexpected. And because it is unexpected, many of God’s people don’t understand it or know exactly how to handle it. So, what do we do when the Lord knocks the props out from under us and caused the lights to go out? The prophet Isaiah gives great truths for walking through the dark.
In the fiftieth chapter of Isaiah, we find two verses, nine and ten, talking about the inevitable and unexpected experience of walking through the darkness, “Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the voice of his servant? Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God. Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who equip yourselves with burning torches! Walk by the light of your fire, and by the torches that you have kindled! This you have from my hand: you shall lie down in torment.”
The Hebrew construct of verse ten suggests that the person who fears God and obeys his voice is the one who continues to trust in and rely on the Lord, even though he is walking through a time of darkness. In fact, the verse implies that we know the person following God more, not by how they walk in the light, but in the darkness. What do we know about the person following God in darkness First, we know that they keep walking when the lights go out.
Keep walking when the lights go out and you can’t see.
One Sunday morning early, during my first pastorate, I received a knock at the door of the parsonage, waking me up from my sleep. It was a church member letting me know that the neighbor’s son across the street passed away in an automobile accident. He was driving down an unlit country road, and his lights went out. Instead of stopping, he tried to navigate the road, causing him to miss a curve and rolling his truck. In a situation like this, it is wise to stop and pullover. It is the right thing to do.
However, what is true of the physical realm is not for the spiritual. You should, you must stop going in the physical ring, but it is a terrible mistake to stop walking in the spiritual realm.
Think about it. When darkness comes upon us and there is no light, you're not sure where you are going, you're not even sure where you are. You can’t see the obstacles in front of you. You have no spiritual feeling, and you can’t see what God is doing. This is not the time to stop. You must keep walking with the Lord through the darkness.
The man or woman that fears the Lord and obeys the Lord doesn’t stop walking with the Lord because there is no light. They keep on walking. They keep on obeying. They keep on seeking. They keep on praying. They keep on giving. They keep on witnessing. They keep on keeping on even though it’s dark.
One of my dear friends, who also served on staff in my last pastorate, is a licensed pilot. One day we were talking about the training he went through to secure his license. It intrigued me when he told me about learning to fly by the instruments, something that every pilot must learn before they receive their license. When a pilot flies into darkness, such as a dark cloud, he will lose his points of reference. It becomes very dangerous to trust in one’s physical perception. Even though it might feel like he is flying straight, he could descend to the ground, not knowing it. He must learn to read and trust the instruments, and not his thoughts or feelings.
In the same manner, the Christian must learn to follow the instruments of God’s word when walking through the darkness. We see this truth in verse ten, “Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the voice of his servant?” The servant that Isaiah is referring to is the servant in the previous verses, four through nine. The servant of the previous verses is Jesus. We keep walking even though it’s dark because we are looking to the instruments of God’s word and it becomes the lamp unto our feet, and light for our path. Second, people who follow God in the darkness know that they should not make their own light to dispel the darkness.
Don’t make your own light to dispel the darkness.
This second point is the most important point you need to grasp today because it is a temptation that occurs when we discover ourselves in the dark. When the lights go out at my house, the first thing I do is look for the light. I light candles and look for flashlights. However, when the lights go out in our walk with God, the last thing we want to do is to make our own light. Isaiah says in verse eleven, “Behold, all you who kindle a fire, and who equip yourselves with burning torches! Walk by the light of your fire, and by the torches that you have kindled! This you have from my hand: you shall lie down in torment.” The Living Bible says, “But see here, you who live in your own light, and warm yourselves from your own fires and not from God’s; you will live among sorrows.”
The Lord is telling us we make an enormous mistake when we try to make our own light. Why? It’s a mistake because we are trying to manufacture our own light to fulfill the purpose of God in our life. We do not want to make our own light.
First, when we make our own light we don’t realize that God has allowed the darkness in our lives. Darkness does not dispel light. It is light that dispels darkness. If it is dark in our experience it on account that God has allowed that darkness into our lives. If you are walking with the Lord and darkness comes upon your walk, it’s because the Lord has removed the light.
When God made the first day in the book of Genesis, he made day and night. The night is as much from God as in the day. What I find fascinating that there are some things you can’t see unless it’s dark, things like the moon and stars. Likewise, in the spiritual realm, there are things you can’t see unless the lights go out.
Second, when we make our own light to replace God’s it only makes things worse. The Living Bible says making our own light will cause you to, “live among sorrows.” I could pull out a lengthy list of sorrows in my life that resulted from me making my light to replace God’s. But I believe it would have a greater impact if we turned to the myriad of examples in the scriptures.
Three chapters into the book of Genesis and you will find Adam and Eve making their own light because they wanted to “be like God.” All of humanity has been living in the sorrows of that mistake.
Abraham received the promise of a child from God, one that he gladly believed in. However, when the darkness of waiting on God to fulfill the promise was more than he and Sarah could bear, they lit their own light and the result was Ishmael. Again, a sorrow we still experience to this very day.
Moses tried to light his own light when he killed the Egyptian soldier, causing him to flee for his life, and setting the deliverance of God back forty years. And there are many more examples, but I believe this proves the point. Don’t make your own light to dispel the darkness. It will only lead to sorrow. Third, the person walking in the dark with God trust and relies on Jesus in the dark.
Trust and rely on Jesus in the dark.
In verse ten it says, “trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God.” When we trust and rely on the Lord in the darkness, we are following the Lord’s example. Notice verse six in this same chapter, “I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.” This is a prophecy that was fulfilled at the crucifixion of Jesus. This is the darkest moment of Christ’s life. What did Jesus do? He trusted God to help him and contend for him. He didn’t take things into his own hands but entrusted himself to the Father.
Jesus is the author and perfector of our faith. He has gone before us and conquered the dark night of the soul. Therefore, we should trust and rely on him when it’s dark and we can’t see.
The Hebrew word translated “rely on” can also translate “stay.” It means to lean for support. The person who relies on is God leans on him for support. The root of that word is found in Psalm twenty-three, verse four, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” They translate the root word, “comfort.” The rod and staff hold me up. They encourage me. They support me. When we are in the darkness, we need a rod and staff to support us, and that rod and staff is Jesus.
Some things you can only see in the darkness. When you are in the darkness, you need someone to support you as you walk, and that someone is Jesus. One person has said, “you don’t know how much you need Jesus until Jesus is all you have.” Interestingly, we can see Jesus more in the dark than we can when we are in the light.
Every spring, when we are working in the yard and flowerbeds, my wife reminds me of a mistake I made a few years ago. I try to forget about it, but she always reminds me I killed one of her favorite flowers, the moonflower. The moonflower got its name because the beautiful white or purple tubular flower blooms at night and remains open until the morning light touches the flower. The beauty of the moonflower is dependant upon the darkness of night.
Much of the fruit of our spiritual life is dependant upon the darkness of night. Therefore, it is important to keep walking with God when the lights go out and you can’t see what God is doing. Don’t give in to the temptation of making your own light because you will only regret it. Trust and rely on Jesus. He is the light and support that will keep you going in the right direction. The darkness of obedience has so much more light than the shining light of leaning on your own understanding.
In the dark, you’ll find Jesus. When you do, as the old song says, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of his glory and grace.”
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