- photo by Susan PageThe phrase "dark night of the soul" originates from the 16th-century Spanish mystic and poet St. John of the Cross. He used this phrase in his poem and subsequent treatise Dark Night (Noche Oscura). The phrase is not in the Bible; however, numerous recorded stories exist of such struggles.

After Elijah’s victory over the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18), he crashed, both physically and spiritually. He was in great despair and felt abandoned by God. With God’s encouragement and loving care, Elijah eventually got through the deep valley to the other side.

King David experienced his own “dark nights of the soul” after blatantly sinning against God. You can read throughout the Psalms how David struggled with bouts of depression as a direct result of his sin or because of his circumstances. Many verses in the Psalms give us a glimpse into times when David struggled with dark thoughts.

"Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior ... My soul is downcast within me; … therefore I will remember ..." (Psalm 42:5-6). Yet later in verse 11, David says, “Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.”

Even our Lord experienced His own “dark night of the soul”. Just before His crucifixion, while in the garden alone with His Father in prayer, His soul was overwhelmed to the point of death. He asked His Father three times to remove the cup of suffering He was facing, a cruel crucifixion and total separation from His Father. This was a very dark time for Jesus, darker than we can begin to fathom. We cannot even imagine the extent of Christ’s suffering. It brings such deep comfort to know that Christ understands our sufferings, and even when we don’t know how to pray, He will lead the way.

I was intrigued upon reading a biography on Mother Teresa, which gave insight into her extended periods of suffering through desert experiences. There were seasons when God’s gentle whisper was absent, yet she remained devoted. “Even though I don’t feel His presence,” she wrote, “I will seek to love Him as He has never been loved.”

If Elijah, David, Mother Teresa, and Jesus (a small sampling of the stories that could be told) went through such low times, might we not expect to face similar experiences?

I have experienced many dark nights myself. I won’t take time to explain the reasons or the circumstances, but I will say that life has been challenging. Yet, God is faithful, and He always comes through. He doesn’t always change the circumstances, but He certainly changes our perspective and feelings as the light of His Son eventually breaks through.

The number of times when the very Scripture my troubled soul needs is exactly what God supplies, totally amazes me. Here are several that have deeply soothed my troubled heart during times of personal struggle: “Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls – Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, and He will make me walk on the high hills” (Habakkuk 3: 17-19).

“I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them” (Isaiah 42:16).

“You, Lord, are my lamp; the Lord turns my darkness into light” (2 Samuel 22:29). “You, Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light” (Psalm 18:28).

God is near, and He can bring us through to the light even in the darkest night.

Susan Page is the daughter of the King, His beloved child, wonderfully forgiven and blessed! Susan longs to age gracefully, becoming more like Jesus as she seeks the hidden treasures revealed to her through Scripture, literature, the arts, humankind, and nature.