Dark Night of the Soul: A Term Paper

What Do We Do in Times of Suffering?

5. What did you learn about how the hidden heart changes through trials and soul work in prayer?

Jeremiah 17:9 says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" 

Even the most introspective individuals cannot know everything about themselves, no matter how much they pursue knowledge of self. The human mind is even more complex than the human body, and more complex than them both is the human heart. In it, we store our treasures, our idols, our habits, and our sins. Only during deep and painful trials do we see the thin, invisible strings our heart has on our thoughts and actions.

It isn't enough that we break old habits. It's a start, but it's only a symptom of a much deeper root - a root that gets in the way of our relationship with God. It isn't that God wants us to suffer exactly, but that He can use suffering as a tool to shape our character and our relationship with Him. Everything that the Lord has created is good (1 Timothy 4:4), but there is still a darkness within the world and within ourselves that twists the holy things God has created. Regardless, God can manipulate the darkness to make His light shine clearer.

This is why Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:10, "That's why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong."  I feel like pleasure is too strong of a word, personally, but the idea is that Paul understands there is a purpose to suffering. Nietzsche once wrote, "To live is to suffer. To survive is to find some meaning in the suffering." It seems Paul has already found this meaning and takes rest in the purpose instead of focusing on the pain of the trial.

But what do we do in times of suffering? How do we pray? The psalms give us a clue.

There are three types of psalms according to Walter Brueggemann: 

- the Psalms of Orientation (praise for the good seasons)

- the Psalms of Disorientation (laments of anger, pain, and confusion)

- and the Psalms of Reorientation (thanksgiving for God coming to save us from the pit). 

The Psalms of Disorientation teach us how to pray in times of trials: honestly.

Psalms 10:1 starts with, "O Lord, why do you stand so far away? Why do you hide when I am in trouble?" There is an openness in these words, even though they are accusatory and seemingly sinful, they are the author's true questions. God is big enough for these kinds of questions. In asking honest questions, we receive honest answers. We are to come to God with our pain, anger, bitterness, and even accusations, for in these times, God speaks with us with understanding.

But what if we don't know what questions to ask? What if our souls are just twisted in pain, without the ability to even form the proper words? That's where the Holy Spirit intercedes. Romans 8:26 says, "And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words."

Yes, even when we pray, God can feel distant. In his pain, the author of Psalms 10:1 feels like God has hidden Himself away, even though God has promised not to leave us or forsake us. (Hebrews 13:5)

So if God hasn't actually left us, why does He feel so distant?