Jun 27
The Dark Night of the Spirit - Part I
“In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
1Thessalonians 5:18
“You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you.” Ezekiel 28:15
“I have heard of you, that the Spirit of God is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you.” Daniel 5:14
In this last vestige of the Dark Nights there is one temptation that must be avoided and you are the only one who can address this, the most rigorous and hard to kill of all temptations. This temptation is a master of disguise. It appears as humility, and touts what you have been through as proof you are broken. It often masks itself as righteous, mature and recognized by those who are spiritually disciplined.
What is this temptation? It is the temptation to be prideful in our brokenness. It makes us feel that somehow we have paid the price to be where we are rather than Jesus paying the price, a price that allows us to take a journey of purification through the Tabernacle, a journey that we do not deserve. Pride in our brokenness is still pride, no matter how hard we have tried, no matter what we have gone through or given up. Further, this level of pride can result in going around the mountain yet another time. This small level of pride is what made Moses strike the rock instead of speaking to it, which by the way was not the real sin, it was the manifestation of the sin.
MUST WE BRING WATER OUT OF THE ROCK FOR YOU?
The real sin was the underlying pride that made him angry when the people came to him wanting him to get them water from the rock when they were thirsty. Moses forgot that he never was the one who did any of the miracles. It was God. Pride has a sad way of making us forget who the true source of all we do actually is.
Be careful that the new wine you are becoming does not turn to vinegar before the bottle is even opened. All it takes is one wrong particle of bacteria, one small crack in the cork, or one unaddressed moment of pride.
THE DARK NIGHT OF THE SPIRIT
So, here you are in this small golden room so that you might understand how small you are. You can also deceive yourself in this room. How? First, by thinking you actually get to stay here. One day you will, but not just yet. In this room you experience the Light of God for a variety of reasons, but one reason you may not have considered is this; you are experiencing the true, pure, light so one day you can comprehend what it is like to be away from that light - which you will soon find out. Dark Nights are truly dark, and this one is the darkest of them all.
You may be thinking that God might actually leave you. No God is not going to leave you - and we will talk more on that shortly - but it will feel that way. The fact is, this God forsaken feeling will become so prevalent that, even in knowing this before hand, you will still feel He has turned away. Only by the process of being in the Light can you deeply feel for those in darkness, who have no access to this Light, to its beauty, its comfort, its penetration, its illumination, nor the security one has when the Light is present.
LIGHT AND HOPELESSNESS
To be without Light, is to be without hope. When the light departs, the glory departs and all thoughts of a good future vanish. As thoughtless as you may think this process is, God must allow you to experience this darkness, so you can fully comprehend that without Him, you really can do nothing. His presence holds all matter together. It is only with His presence that you, without reservation, know that with “full” faith you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. Notice this verse does not say you can do all things because of Christ, but “through Christ.”
The only way you can grasp the depth of this subtle difference is for God to lift His light from you for a season. When He does this, things will get very, very dark and you will not only notice the absence of His presence and His light, you will feel the loss of the Light as you no longer feel it penetrating you, nor do you feel yourself absorbing it.
THE SOURCE OF ALL MATTER
It is in this darkened place that you eventually and unfeignedly understand the absence of His presence and your resultant inability to do what He has asked you to do. This is where “death to self” is actually experienced - the death of any thought that you actually have the capability to do anything or have any merit in yourself that is worth while in the Kingdom. You will no longer think God is fortunate that you are on His side.
THREE PHASES
The Dark Night of the Spirit does not speedily come and go. There are three long phases of the Dark Night of the Spirit and you must go through them all. First, you will feel abandoned by everyone, and at times, even abandoned by God. Second, you will recognize you are incapable of completing the task you were sent to do and you will battle with the deepest sense of low self worth and sense of failure you have yet encountered. Third, you will recognize that only God can finish the task He gave you. Eventually, you will find that He will still use you to do it, but in His strength, not yours and in a manner you least expected.
It is in the Dark Night of the Spirit that you will learn what it means to be able to give thanks in all things for this is the will of God through Christ Jesus concerning you. Without this experience, it would be extremely difficult for you to consistently do this, especially to do it by grasping why the Lord allowed your deepest pain to come to you. By then end of the Final Dark Night, you will grasp this and like thousands of others before you, weep with gratitude as you marvel at God’s patience with you.
We’ll look at these three phases of the Dark Night of the Spirit and more in the next post.
Blessings,
John Paul Jackson
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If I had only one verse that I could claim as mine it would be the little phrase “Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning.” Psalm 30b
I have over the years stood through many nights of testing and darkness—but eventually the morning light broke through each time and a deeper level of joy came upon me.
It is not easy to go through the dark times and seasons…but we discover somehow we are gathering heavenly sheaves as we endure the night.
I yield to you bringing this new night season on LORD!!!
Love, Linda
I”ll get the kleenex out…
John Paul:
This is a very serious question. Does God Himself go through a Dark Night for mankind when He observes His children not accepting His Son our Lord and Savior Christ as their Lord and Savior and when He observes His children abusing one another with words and actions?
Shirley C.
“Be careful that the new wine you are becoming does not turn to vinegar before the bottle is even opened. All it takes is one wrong particle of bacteria, one small crack in the cork, or one unaddressed moment of pride.” - John Paul Jackson
This is an excellent Spiritual Direction.
“You may be thinking that God might actually leave you. No God is not going to leave you - and we will talk more on that shortly - but it will feel that way” - John Paul Jackson
This statement - “God is not going to leave you” - is absolutely key, if Commentaries of this nature are not to descend into a form of Pastotal Direction expressed as ‘Panic Theology’ - GOD does not leave us nor forsake us and if this is the case, then a specific type of Spiritual Formation, Maturation and Sanctification is taking place.
Hebrews 5:13b God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
JP,
The experience of feeling abandoned by God and totally quenched in spirit has been going on for awhile. I know it is a spiritual time that is needful but “knowing why the Lord has allowed your deepest pain to come to you” I do not have understanding. My faith is weak and I’m so tired. Thank you for putting words to my experience. Blessings, Holly
I took my son to disney world when he was about 4 or 5 years old. while we were on a ride that went into complete darkness, my son said,” Daddy, are you here?” I said, “I’m here Jay” Then he said,” OK” It happened again as the ride went into complete darkness again, and the same words were spoken. Are you here? Yes I’m here. OK daddy! My son was a little child and knew nothing of feelings yet. My word was truth to him, and caused him to rest. No feelings, no thoughts, no trying to understand. Father are you here? I’m here my child. I will never leave you alone! OK! Daddy!
“This is a very serious question. Does God Himself go through a Dark Night for mankind” - Shirley C.
Yes. Jesus did exactly this on the Cross.
Luke 23:44 By this time it was about noon, and darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock.
John Paul, there is a lot of wisdom in this post. This pose seems very transparent to me, for it seems that it comes from a personal experience that you know all too well. You wrote a very good point that we can do all things “through” Christ and not “because of” Him. The Power is not ours. It is not our strength and our might that does it.
I think a lot of the timidness I experience in stepping out is because I think I will fail Him, but it is not my strength doing the work. It is Him working through me. There are definitely certain areas in my life where I felt like the strength was me, and God had to knock me on my butt and show me that it was His grace and favor all along.
A while before you posted about being broken, the Lord had me look about the definition of that word, so this was definitely confirmation for me and where the Lord has me. In Merriam-Webster, one of the meanings was “to be under control”. Being broken in God means to be completely surrendered and under His control. We are now slaves to righteousness(Romans 6:16-20). This is what truly “your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” means- to be completely yielded to His Will. Submission requires us to rest from our works (our perceived strength or lack there of) and rest in Him:
10 For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world (hebrews 4:10, NKJV)
If God can submit Himself to what He spoke during the six days of creation, we now new creators in Christ can do the same. When we take a sabbath rest in Jesus Christ we are yielding our empty vessels for Christ to work through us by the power of the Holy Spirit. That is why I choose to pen the name “laydownyourcrown”. It means to lay down your agendas and mostly self before God. It means to cast before Him that thing that makes you think it was you who was worthy and not Him. It is a form of surrender (revelation 4:10-11).
Even though I have a ways to go, I am calling things that be not as though they were, for this is my ultimate goal–to be completely yielded to Him
how else can one go into a deep dark jail cell and show someone the light so they may step out of the cell and be free broken bread and poured out wine He breaks the bread He pours out the wine yes yes yes Shalom
Valuable insight, thank you!
Ouch! I felt great conviction by your statement about the temptation to be prideful in our brokenness.
Thank you for bringing about that conviction which will hopefully lead me in time to a place of repentance and freedom in Christ.
God bless you!
Jesus went through the Dark nights but in reverse of how we go through it. He had his Dark night of the Spirit in the wilderness because the Devil tested him in his ability. (We have the wilderness first too but what Jesus went through looks like all of it at one time)
He had his Dark Night of the Soul in the Garden of Gethsemene when he said “not my will…”
And then he was crucified.
From what i’ve understood John Paul writing many of us have already crucified the flesh metaphorically. We then go to the Soul and then the Spirit dark nights respectively.
Maybe Jesus went through them in the same order; its just the outward affect of it looks like the a mirror image (kind of reversed, but Identical never the less)
I wonder if these Dark Nights are a result of the 3 different aspects of sinful man grieving the Holy Spirit.
This is my concern: 2 Thessalonians 2:13
“But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.”
If it is the Spirit who sactifies us, how are we made purer when he departs? I guess I dont have to like it…
The book of Job addresses suffering like no other major section of the Bible. It does not answer the questions of the problem of suffering directly. This involves ‘why does suffering happen,’ ‘what is the origin or cause of suffer,’ or ‘why am I suffering.’ Job is in the dark to all of this.
Nor does Job directly address whether or not innocent people suffer or if suffering is always deserved. We do know from Job that he was righteous and was not being punished however.
Job does address one issue concerning suffering in depth. ‘How can I suffer and what am I to do when suffering?’ This question is addressed. Job reacted in two major ways to what he went through. Initially, he had calm acceptance to God’s will. He admitted the Lord both gives and takes away and praised him. It did not mean he didn’t experience grief. He did feel pain but he chose to praise God.
As we know, things got worse for Job. When it became unbearable he directed it all towards God. He expressed his bitterness towards God and it was through the subsequent encounter with God that the anguish was relieved. So, while the patient side of Job is a model for our behavior, the Bible also recognizes it can become unbearable. When it reaches that point the answer is to express it to God.
I would add another option to this dark night experience. It is what I am experiencing and I’m sure there is nothing new under the sun. This is the experience of not wanting to do the things I had wanted to do before. So, I’ve learned I can’t do them. Great. Now, I don’t care. It could be called doubt as to whether they really were ever God’s desire for me life….doubt that is telling me to let those dreams go because they could be all made up dreams never to be accomplished. No more hope deferred I say. It is easier to find new hopes and dreams.
Personally, I’m beginning to adopt an Ecclesiasties attitude. That is, let me quite trying to get somewhere and enjoy today. So, that is what I’ve chosen to do. I’m letting go of those old hopes and dreams and looking to enjoy life for a while. The frustrating part is while I chose this new direction it doesn’t guarantee anything. I can apply for that job with a nice salary but ultimately, our trials and joys are already appointed for us….”so there’s no use arguing with God about your destiny” (Ecclesiastes 6:10).
All we can really do is chose to enjoy today.
Wow, best cry Steve and I have had in a while…thank you for the lifeline! We are so craving His light…I’m reminded again that it WILL come…though it linnnnger…it will surely come!! I think I can even hear the faint melody in the distance for “Future and Hope” and it sounds NOTHING like I remember!! Thank you for the warning against pride…may He have His reward full and pure!
“Without this experience, it would be extremely difficult for you to consistently do this, especially to do it by grasping why the Lord allowed your deepest pain to come to you. By then end of the Final Dark Night, you will grasp this and like thousands of others before you, weep with gratitude as you marvel at God’s patience with you.” (For souls to come and the sheep of HIS pastures)
(especially to do it by grasping why the Lord allowed your deepest pain to come to you.)-2 My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me, and art far from my help at the words of my cry? (Psalm 22:1-32) and (Mt 27:46; Mk 15:34)
As we journey together in HIM~
Yesterday I had a neat (blessed) experience!
A friend called and told me that GOD had put it on her heart to make two high priest’s (Aaron) garments. One would be for her husband and one she would present to her church.
She said she felt she and I were to go to another town and gather all the material and accessories. We prayed and asked GOD to go before us and show us what we were to purchase. She had a couple of notebooks filled with information on the priest’s garments, but we were going to follow the KJV description as best we could.
We want the outfits to be as close to “authentic” looking as best we could–without a lot of cutting and seams, etc. By the end of the day–we had gathered what we were sent to find.
Anyway in one of the stores there was an area with shelves filled with various sizes, shapes and colors of bottles. My attention was drawn here. My attention was caught by a little clear amber bottle (about 8 inches high) with a jeweled gold crown stopper (cork).
I picked it up.
My friend, Deborah, took it out of my hands and said, “I’m buying this for you—you can put anointing oil or something in it.” I smiled to myself and thought of the “new wine”……..
She doesn’t read Coffee Talk so she did not know of the significance that little bottle is to me for this time and season in my life…
I felt GOD “presented” that empty bottle to me–to encourage me and show that HIS new wine will one day fill me. In HIS time and in HIS way HE will “unstop” and “uncork” me and be poured forth from me.
It was an unexpected day of GOD”s goodness! Hallelujah!!!
I am praying that GOD will give you and lead you to the “bottle” HE has designed for you…I wasn’t expecting an amber colored bottle–I would have chosen a different color–but GOD chose for me. May you “know” your bottle when you see it.
We’re getting closer……..
Love y’all,
Linda
Wow! Hello, Folks:
John Paul writes:
THE SOURCE OF ALL MATTER
It is in this darkened place that you eventually and unfeignedly understand the absence of His presence and your resultant inability to do what He has asked you to do. This is where “death to self” is actually experienced - the death of any thought that you actually have the capability to do anything or have any merit in yourself that is worth while in the Kingdom. You will no longer think God is fortunate that you are on His side.
I write:
I have a prayer burden for the United States and the people of the Gulf Coast including the Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Texas regions. We are talking about a potential mass exodus away from the hazardous waste zones. All is not well in the Southern parts of the US. This is a dark night of the spirit for this region and we need to pray and fast for the intervention of the spirit of the living God regarding this dark night of the spirit for part of it is deliberate on the part of a select few who have mingled withe spirit of greed and have collided and colluded with the Python spirit. We need to abandon all of our personal agenda’s and hunker down with God in this dark night of our country. Today I woke up with a vision of the spiritual warfare over this country in regards to this nations resources and spiritual destiny. I saw from the sea in the Gulf coast in the spirit two key principalities that the BP corporation have colluded and collided with through the spirit of greed and that is Pythos,and Leviathan. There needs to be an all out effort of prayer, repentance and fasting. It is no longer business as usual say’s God. The life of this nation depends on this. Is there anyone who has the Love and Compassion of these times to endure in the suffering and to agree with the “Glorious Future” for this nation. Well then step up to the plate, get on your boots ans step into your future. Now is the time.
Enjoy the You Tube video, “The Prophetic Call Of The Warrior Bride”: Get on Your Boots -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1WWKWy0WdU
Bless You!
Shirley C.
Well maybe the oil spill, and mass migration away from the gulf coast will minimize any terrorist attack attempted on port cities.
I kept hearing “Corpus Christi” Texas about 2 years ago (which of course means “Body of Christ’ and a friend of mine with revelatory type gifts mentioned he kept hearing “Corpus Christi.” I said “Texas” and he said he wanted to go there.
I told him it probably wasn’t a good idea because the conotation I got from what I heard was negative. My thoughts also were being turned back to John Paul’s revelation of the dirty bomb attack on a coastal city. I keep hearing Corpus Christi so you intercessors pray for them.
There is some slight notion i’m getting in the Spirit about this making news because they will actually catch the people before the bomb goes off (bomb, or bio attack, whatever they are planning.)
-Shaun Brehm
JPaul_
I dreamed one night years ago that I found myself walking through a dark dark cave like place. It was so dark that I could not see anything. I was aware that as I progressed forward even though I could not see, I had the overwhelming awareness that my surroundings were closing in on me to the point that I was feeling more claustrophobic and panicky as I progressed onward. I knew that I could not go back. In the last ’stage’ of this place I knew I was dying, face down in the dirt (that I could only taste and feel). I was so weak I could not move any further but I knew I was at the end where a sealed entrance or exit(?) of some kind was but I could go no further in my condition of such weakness. All of a sudden the seal was opened and a bright light was shining from the outside. A hand reached into the ‘tomb’ that I was in and began to pull me up and out. I felt such a force of strength and joy flood through me. I knew it was Jesus Himself there at the door of that place of death that I had was in.___I had this dream in 1996 and tonight when I read this last post I remembered it in detail. When death to self comes in it’s fullness, Jesus is there in His fullness to resurrect us into the newness of life that He died in order for us to live. What your posting here is absolutely powerful! Thank you, JPATT
Pythios and Leviathan: the false prophetic, and pride accordingly
Those two things operate through presumption.
Those are probably the two controlling factors in almost any man-made movement that is not about God. The Babylon Effect strikes again… (I need to write a book on that)
Unfortunately our Government, especially the President, is operating through the same. If you know the story of Babel then you know what happens next.
-Shaun
Hope all of you have a blessed and safe Fourth of July!!!
Hope your fireworks are the brightest ever–the homemade ice cream thick and yummy–the bar-b-que aroma and flavor out of this world–your fellowship with loved ones and friends joyful–
Remember to thank GOD for allowing us to call the USA “home” of the red, white and blue. May we never forget what our nation was founded and established for.
Remember our troops who are fighting to keep us a free nation still under GOD.
Love you guys!
Linda
We need someone to load Lee Greenwood’s “I’m Proud To Be An American” off of you tube,ahem!?! My dial up computer is too slow to load these songs…
The title of that Lee Greenwood song is “God Bless the USA”…
I know many of you are not USA citizens who read Coffee Talk Blog—and I know you are proud of your countries.
May God bless you, too, and revival break out for you!
Citizens of a Higher Kingdom,
Linda
Last night we were invited to go to a church in our region. This church’s big outreach in their community is to offer on the 4th free music–free food and a fireworks show.
They had a band (Blaine Bowman & His Good Time Band) from Cincinnati, OH playing in the parking lot. They played secular tunes ranging from motown–rock–country, golden oldies–etc—-but all the songs had “Christian” lyrics. It was awesome and in the course of the “fun” several people were saved.
Here is an example: SWEET HOME ALABAMA
the lyrics were changed to:
SWEET HOME UP IN HEAVEN
Well in my heart there is a yearning
Cause I long to be with you
And on my life there is a calling
Lord, just tell me what to do.
Lord You know I talk about You
In my life and all I do
Be so dumb to live without You
Cause I know You are the Truth. (That’s right!)
chorus: Sweet home up in Heaven
Where the skies are always blue
Sweet home up in Heaven
Lord I’m coming home to You.
You are my Friend and You are my Father
You are the One I run to
You are my Guide–You are my Savior
I know no one else will do.
chorus: Sweet home up in Heaven
Where the skies are always blue
Sweet home up in Heaven
Lord, I’m coming home to You.
I just can’t wait to get to Heaven.
Where I will always be with You
There’s so much to be done on earth here
Spending the time serving You. (That’s the truth)
chorus: Sweet home up in Heaven
Where the skies are always blue
Sweet home up in Heaven
Lord, I’m coming home to You.
(repeat chorus)
This just blessed me yesterday and wanted to share it with y’all today.
Love from Sweet Home Alabama,
Linda
As i have been experiencing the wilderness journey… i have also experienced dark dark dark nights.. and the feelings as though God has left us… but in His Word he promises that He will never leave us or abandon us. we may be going through tough trials as well as there may be things that have surfaced that i very hurtful or whatever.. but the reason why they are being surfaced so that we can ask God to help us deal with these issues… or circustances…..
anyways.. thanks again for posting your thoughts and what not JP.. Good stuff!! keep em coming!
In response to the above question as to whether God endures the dark night, the story of Jesus in the Garden comes up. It says in Mark that He was filled with terror to the point of death. Shortly thereafter, he cried, from the cross, “Why have you forsaken me.” But I wonder if he experienced a preview of that abandonment in the garden that would elicit such powerful feelings as to draw blood. And the enemy must have been having a field day playing with His emotions. Perhaps Satan was bringing to mind the Hebrew scapegoat sacrifice that was led out in the wilderness to wander until it died of thirst and starvation - utter abandonment, in otherwords. I wonder if Satan wasn’t playing on that, and suggesting that Jesus’ intimacy with the Father would be permanantly severed; that that was the price to reconcile mankind.
Of course Jesus knew about rising in three days. But there must have been quite an emotional battle during the hours before the cross resulting in the agony He sustained.
Thanks John Paul, this is one of the most profound and accurate understanding of the ways of God in recent years. However, many are giving up or had quietly given up, is this unseen filtering process for the sheeps and the goats? I must admit, this is a global phenomenon, and even I am very discouraged staying in this extreme quietness of the Lord.
I’m one who gave up but He drew me back to Him. I thought that He didn’t want to be with me anymore…It was so wonderful for Jesus to intoduce me to the Father. I lived and moved and had my being in Him, such incredible joy,then He was gone. The incredible sorrow that nothing could get rid of. That was so long ago and no one I knew had any idea of what I was talking about. I studied Song of Songs which is wonderful but even that didn’t help the incredible sorrow. I gave up because I thought I had trampled on the blood( I was totally decieved).It’s the strangest place to be in. No emotion,no passion, no want for anything but Him. He called me back,spoke to me,gave me a dream,then He interpreted the dream plus 3 more from years ago that all pertained to the repentance He wanted to bring me to. He allowed me to come into His passion for lost souls, then it was gone. There is no confidence in the flesh only in Jesus Christ. It’s amazing because it was the sin of incredible pride and your articles are such truth to me. I don’t feel Him but I know He is here. The sorrow is still deep within me but the knowlege of what is happening has given me hope. Thankyou
i have no hope or faith left… This dark night is to much for me… I truly don’t think I can take anymore…
Angela,
As I have been praying for you one scripture keeps returning to me for you:
“Peace, I leave with you, MY peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
–John 14:27
Our “PEACEMAKER” is at your side and inside you–HE is not leaving you IN the darkness–HE is taking you THROUGH the darkness. Give your fears and cares to HIM.
Trust JESUS to guide you into HIS glorious light. HE allowed you to come into the “darkness” because HE knows you have within you the heart to endure this testing time. We , who have gone before you, have had our insecure and hopeless moments, too, at different points along the way.
Stay the course Angela! We’re rooting for you!
Love,
Linda