Tags
being born again, dark night of the soul, darkness, Donald W. Ekstrand, experience, faith, following Jesus, God's love, pain
Hope in the Darkness
(Photo Credits http://abstract.desktopnexus.com/wallpaper/562557/)
Since our all-knowing and sovereign God decided to usher me into deep darkness which is accompanied by much pain and suffering, I thought it would be a good idea to provide an excerpt from Dr. Donald W. Ekstrand that deals with the Hows and Whys of dark times in our lives.
God never lets us suffer because He likes to do that. However, in His great love He alone sees what kind of circumstances, afflictions or trials will be helpful for us to finally give up on ourselves and to only trust in Him. Despite serious pains in my heart and soul for some time now, I sense that a new form of faith which is no longer grounded on something that I could find in myself – since there is nothing that could ever make me jump for joy again – has begun to come to light right out of the darkness. I do not understand how it works, yet I have realized that faith, indeed, exclusively comes from God. We could never achieve true faith on our own.
So, before you could read the excerpt as already announced, some information about the author. Dr. Don Ekstrand is an adjunct professor of Christian Studies at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix and of Religious Studies in the Maricopa Community College District in Arizona. He has also served in positions of pastor, teacher, and executive administration for nearly 40 years.
Someone once said there will be no revival, either personally or otherwise, until there is first a Gethsemane and a Calvary in each of our own lives.
Life Includes Suffering – I purposely ignored studying the sufferings of Job for years because it scared me. Eventually, in God’s timing, the story of Job became incredibly real to me as I began to experience deep suffering in my own life. I learned I had a choice: to either let the suffering accomplish the goal and purpose that God wanted in my life; or, let the suffering crush and destroy me. God put the book of Job right in the center of the Bible for a very good reason: it’s an example of faith in the night seasons. God intends for all of us to use it as a “road map” on our journey through the dark night, always keeping in mind that at the end of the road, Job finally “saw” God as he never had seen Him before, and it changed his life forever.
Suffering has as its goal the sanctification, the purification, of our souls and spirits. Suffering comes about as God unrelentingly identifies the most potentially damaging hindrance to our relationship with Him, and then lovingly begins to strip that thing away from us. He crushes us, He breaks us, He shakes us and removes anything that is in the way of His accomplishing His will in and through our lives. Some important points to remember when we are going through suffering are:
• God allows our troubles to drive us to our knees and to bring us back to Himself. (Ex 2:23-25)
• God allows trials in our lives so we may turn around and minister to others in similar circumstances. (2 Cor 1:3-4)
• Sometimes our troubles must get worse before freedom comes. Satan, obviously, does not want that – therefore, he does everything he possibly can to stop it.
• It’s important to realize that we can’t get ourselves out of trouble. If God has allowed the trial, then He is the only One who can get us out of it. Therefore, it is not our battle, but His. (Ex 6:6-8)
• Our troubles should always push us towards God, not away from Him. If they push us away from Him, we should check to be sure who is the instigator of the trial. (Ps 77:2; 2 Chron 33:12)
• Once we understand that God is involved in our trials, it should give us great hope. (Eph 1:17-20)
• God wants to use our trials as a way for us to learn His statutes and His laws. (Ps 119:71)
God always has a reason for the things He allows into our lives. He is preparing us for a future which He alone knows.
Read more here (http://www.thetransformedsoul.com/additional-studies/spiritual-life-studies/-dark-night-of-the-soul)
Entering the Promised Land 
I’ve come to believe God actually does his work in us exclusively through suffering. This isn’t to say there aren’t seasons of rest given also by God’s hand, because both suffering and rest are vital and given to us by him. One is not more important than the other, but they both come by his hand and in his timing and serve very different roles. James 1 tells us clearly that it is the perseverance through trials that brings us to maturity and completion.
When I reflect on every major life shift and revelation he has brought me to, it’s always accompanied by trials. Every time. This is a pattern that holds up in the Bible, too.
People like to say God never gives us more than we can handle, but I’ve come to believe he deliberately gives us more than we can handle… though never more than HE can handle. These times of heartache and suffering drive us to rely on him. It’s in these times I learn to accept my weakness and exchange it for his strength.
It’s also important to remember that ALL things are ultimately for the glory of God. He blesses and curses. He brings life and death. He shows grace and hardens hearts. I can’t begin to fathom his purposes, but I know it’s always for his glory and the good of those he calls his own. All creation is made to point to his glory, and so are our sufferings.
We like to look for the good outcome of every difficult situation, attempting to rationalize trials as for a purpose we can quantify, but I suspect sometimes hardship serves to glorify him in ways we’ll never see or be able to reconcile. This doesn’t mean he isn’t good, it simply means we are finite and he is infinite. His ways are not our ways. He is wild and untamed, answering to no man and acting in any way he pleases.
I don’t understand this amazing God we serve, but I trust him 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yes, Dan, I cannot count the trials He put me through. Every greater change in my heart saw severe suffering before. And that process of transformation is indeed biblical, I believe you are right.
The following paragraph you wrote is well worth to be quoted.
“People like to say God never gives us more than we can handle, but I’ve come to believe he deliberately gives us more than we can handle… though never more than HE can handle. These times of heartache and suffering drive us to rely on him. It’s in these times I learn to accept my weakness and exchange it for his strength.”
Wonderful truth, Dan!! Nothing compares to our own experiences with God, right? Actually, that is was I just realized once again in my life. He gives us more than we can handle so that we can see HE IS GOD – and there is no other who could help us – ever.
Yup, trusting Him, too, without understanding His unfathomable ways, either. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dan wrote, “We like to look for the good outcome of every difficult situation, attempting to rationalize trials as for a purpose we can quantify, but I suspect sometimes hardship serves to glorify him in ways we’ll never see or be able to reconcile.”
Great and insightful comment, my brother. Everything that God does isn’t about us!!! I was reminded of something I read years ago in “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.”
‘If there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than me or else just silly.’
‘Then he isn’t safe?’ asked Lucy.
‘Safe?’ said Mr. Beaver. ‘Don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.’
-end quote-
I think that God refuses to color between the lines we like to draw for Him. We act as if He gave us the Bible so we can use it to keep Him in check. Silly people! Oh how the religious tail wants to wag the Lion! “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” But, I am also grateful that God is love.
Bless you Dan!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s also said of Aslan that “he’s not a tame lion”. I love that! We want to understand God and package him up in such a way that we feel “safe”, but he isn’t safe at all. He’s a God to be feared!
What if Job’s suffering didn’t end in some quantifiable lesson for Job? Would that still be ok? Can God do whatever he wants? What if the primary purpose in Job’s story was for you and I, and not for him at all? People look at the story and point out that his fortune was restored and he had lots more kids as though that somehow made him forgot all his kids died!?!? We’d feel a lot more comfortable with Job’s story if we could tie a bow on it, but we can’t.
The truth is Job never ONCE blamed the devil for his sufferings, and neither did his friends or wife. Everyone acknowledged it was at God’s hand, and Job went as far as to ask “shall we accept good from God and not evil?”
Yeah, he’s not safe or tame at all. He’s the king I tell you! But he’s good… so good.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Dan, I know where you are coming from.. God never promised us a rose garden, but rather “they who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”
I remember having to go before my own Sanhedrin during a church split that was being forced by two cult leaders that came in and tried to take control.with the okay of the pastor The elders of the church were on the other side with all the people lined up taking sides between them. Well, I had submitted to the pastor and his group until God showed me it was becoming a cult and then I stood firm against them, but it was too late. The elders’ side thought I was part of the enemy and the pastor’s side thought I was against them! My name was mud throughout the whole church! I felt that neither side was right as long as there was no reconciliation between them for Christ’s body is ONE (1 Cor. 3).
Well, I thought that because I had obeyed God and stood for what was right, that everything would come out right for me… IT DIDN’T! We finally left town wounded and defeated and cursed. Years later we moved back to a near by town and I looked up some of the people I knew in that church after being gone for nine years. None of them wanted to be restored to us in fellowship once again. All I represented to them was a bad time of suffering in their lives. Was there a silver lining in all that? Well, God used it to kill a lot of presumptuous thinking about Him and His ways in me! But it also helped me to see that HE is God and I am not.
Thanks for sharing these things, my brother… Praying for you and your family.
Michael
LikeLiked by 2 people
Dan, you asked regarding Job’s fate,
“People look at the story and point out that his fortune was restored and he had lots more kids as though that somehow made him forgot all his kids died!?!?”
That was always something that made me not only wonder, but even angry when I heard this. No human being can be “exchanged” by another, and when you lost only one of your children, you know that they can never be replaced. It was in 2009 when Paul and I lost our only son through a miscarriage. Even though the Lord comforted me afterwards, I still often begin to weep when I see boys of David’s age (about 5) or babies because I never saw him alive.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………..
BTW, if someone is interested, I wrote about the supernatural way Jesus comforted me at that time in that post True fellowship knows no death, together with another testimony.
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a deep and insightful comment you wrote on here, dear Jacqui! Full of wisdom, too.
Yes, there are always challenges ahead and it is good that we do not know them before. The strength always comes when we are at the end of our rope. Not a second earlier as I so often experienced it meanwhile.
As for Job, in fact, I love him as well. The Book of Job was the first book of the Bible I read when I was a new believer in Jesus. And I learned so much from it, esp. about dreams and that God sometimes speaks to us humans through them.
Indeed, we have a terrific communication on here, don’t we, Jacqui! 🙂
Love,
Susanne XOXO
LikeLiked by 2 people
wow its hard to decide which was better–the article or the comments–I guess its a tie.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You often say so much good things in only a few words, Kenneth. Your comments are, truly, a blessing for me. THANK YOU!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for this very personal post, Susanne. I, too, am drawn to the Book of Job. It played a pivotal role in the loss and restoration of my faith (something I’ll be writing about on avoicereclaimed.com 12/21/14). Many abuse victims like myself stumble over the issue of suffering by the innocent. In the news just today were reports of a 12 y.o. girl raped, and a 4 y.o. beaten to death. Yesterday there was a report about a teen starved to 35 lbs. Evil like that is incomprehensible. We rage at God for allowing it. Only against the backdrop of eternity is there any possibility for justice, in the sense we long for it. Christ, Himself, said, “…not as I will, but as You will.” I recommend Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen to you. He wrote profoundly on the topic of suffering.
LikeLiked by 2 people
You are most welcome, dear Anna. Yes, that is what I think we have in common, our interest in the Book of Job. Having experienced abuse or rape, we may struggle with God, asking Him, “Where were you at that time? Why didn’t you help me, protect me?” Meanwhile I believe that I reached the point of which Augustine once said, “I have given up on trying to understand God.”
I will check out your article, Anna. Actually, I read writings by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen before, long ago as far as I remember. Some good stuff, indeed!
Love ❤
Susanne
LikeLike
Thank you for the precious writings – all of you. The scripture writer said, ” though He slay me, yet will I trust Him”. Peter, I believe, is the one who said to Jesus, ” Where shall we go, You have the words of life”.
I pray that I have the faith that pleases God. Other faith may be popular in Christian circles, but I pray that I will not be moved with any faith that does not please God.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Good prayer, Pat! I, also, have been praying that God get down to the very root of all that is in me that is not of Him… The latest thing our Father has put on my heart is Isaiah ch. 6 in response to asking to see His face. The part that HE made jump out at me was, “Woe is me, I am undone for I have seen the Lord…” He said, “Michael, if you want to see me, I have to undo you of all that you are. No flesh shall see me and live.” I answered, “Yes, Lord! Let it be done to me as you will. Amen.” The time I have left on this earth is too short to miss any and all that He has apprehended me for.
Love you my sister and we appreciate your great heart, Michael
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for your wonderful encouragement, dear Pat. 🙂
Actually, I am sure that you, my sister, have no need to worry about having the right faith.
Isn’t it interesting that the faith that pleases God exclusively comes from Himself? Redemption, salvation, faith, hope, and LOVE – everything that is good comes down from above. So basically, we could simply give up on trying to achieve the unachievable on our own. However, it seems to me that God always waits until we are really at our wits’ end and cry our hearts out before Him.
Admittedly, the day before yesterday as God violently cut my heart into thousands of pieces and I saw that I could never change anything about my strongly negative feelings (like hypersensitivity, jealousy, and anger), I got very, very mad at Him. Indeed, I believe, that is what He wanted to see from me. COMPLETE HONESTY! Therefore I loudly complained about the fact that He had not yet freed me from emotions that complicated my life that much. Instead, He had poured his light into me and opened my heart so that those emotions worsened and worsened!! After countless hours of weeping due to the pain of feeling His divine scalpel in my heart, I gave up on everything. Hold on tight – even on God. 😉
I told Him, “Whatever you do in my heart right now – do it. You are God. But I don’t think that I will ask you once again to free me from feelings that have really tormented me for decades. If you truly want to help me – YOU MUST DO EVERYTHING!!!” And then Susanne gave up on talking with God (which is unusual for me).
Afterwards it was continually getting darker and darker inside me. But at the same time I felt in a certain sense sedated, too, and I perceived that my rebellious spirit had somehow disappeared into nirvana. More and more I felt a tomblike silence in my heart and mind. There was nothing that could disturb me – neither negative nor positive feelings. I was emptied and quiet. And in the twinkling of an eye, I suddenly KNEW doubtlessly that whatever God wanted to do with me, I let Him. Even patiently (!!!) – that alone was a miraculous discovery.
But lo and behold, within a few hours, even all those feelings that I could hardly ever suppress had also melted into thin air. Instead, I felt that God came nearer and nearer and poured so much love, and faith, and hope into my heart that I was really AMAZED and OVERWHELMED with joy.
What a wonderful loving and sweet God we have!!! ❤ ❤ ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Susanne, these verses came to mind as I rejoice in your spiritual death and resurrection…
I thought it good to show the signs and wonders that the most high God has worked for me. How great are his signs! and how mighty are his wonders! his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation.
(Daniel 4:2-3 KJ2000)
Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells in mount Zion.
(Isaiah 8:18 KJ2000)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes and amen to these Scriptures, Michael!!
And thank you so much for rejoicing with me, my dear brother. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am right now going through the largest trial of my life – I am divorced – yet I can say this is the best thing because it brought me closer to Him. And I would like to share with you the web page of the ministery which showed me Him in this all (link removed by the blog author) God is really good 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Martina, I was so sorry to hear that you have to go through such a painful experience right now. Yes, pain and suffering finally bring us closer to Him. But sometimes it really needs a very long time of accepting the pain until the healing sets in.
As for the link you wanted to share in your comment, to be honest, I was praying for more than one hour about whether to remove the link from your comment or not. I checked the website and felt immediately repelled by some eye-catching DONATE requests. I read a few things and I clearly felt that it is not God’s Spirit who moves that ministry. Therefore I eventually decided to remove the link and I do hope that you did not get too much entangled into that organisation yet.
Take care, dear sister!
May God bless you and heal you! ❤
Love,
Susanne
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pingback: Suffering Stamps Out the Superficial Self | Entering the Promised Land