WILDERNESS: The dark night of the soul
After Jesus was baptized, He went to the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil. I find it interesting that this apparently was intentional. For me, that condition was unintentional. I don't believe that other Christians who find themselves in a spiritual wilderness intended to be here either. Its just not something rates high on our "to do" list. It happens nevertheless.
We don’t usually talk about the wilderness much, or why Jesus chose to face it. In some denominations it is all most considered heresy to admit one is encountering difficulties or doubt. After all, our faith in God is supposed to be able to deal with anything.
To say there have been times I have sat in church and “just didn’t have my heart in it” would be to grossly understate the problem. I am talking about getting to the point I actually find it painful to try to worship God. He becomes a figure whose “Divine Silence” becomes a greater torment than any earthly sadist could dream up. I am really not surprised that some have abandoned faith altogether in order to escape. Better not to believe in God, than to have Him become the focus of all our anguish.
I have so far manage to come to one conclusion. Finding oneself in the wilderness does not indicate that one has made an irrevocable misstep somewhere. It may even you are there because you need to be. We all have emotional garbage that needs to be burned away. I can be thankful for that at least. Its only in the trial that you can make the choice of what you actually believe.
