In dry times and dark nights when God seems distant, God wants to go progressively deeper in order to purge the corruption we can’t see. In a dark night God shines his light on our impurities so we can see them and let go of them. John of the Cross (b. 1542 – d. 1591) illustrates this with the image of sunlight on a window. If the window is clean then the sun can illuminate the glass and the window shines like the sunlight. If the window is dirty then the window can not shine. The sunlight is the same in both cases; the issue is the cleanliness of the window.[1] Likewise, God’s light can permeate and illuminate us only to the extent that we are “clean”. This echoes Jesus’ teaching: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matt. 5:8, NIV).
Throughout our life, God continually peels away all the layers of corruption that interfere with our new Adam self. He wants to purge the dysfunctional living that we learned in our childhood, heal the brokenness due to damage from others, deliver us from psychological disorders, crucify our disordered passions, and replace our crooked thinking patterns. In a dark night our frustration and anger helps us realize that we value delightful feelings from God more than we value Christformation and God’s will. He wants to rearrange our priorities.
Our responsibility is to humble ourselves and be open to the corruption that God is trying to expose. We should acknowledge the corruption and renounce it and let it go. We may have to work hard to withdraw our participation in some corruption but some corruption God may remove simply upon our confession. God will especially target the many different forms of spiritual pride. Pride will always be a danger and God will continue to dig down and root it out.
Therefore, if you are in a dry time or dark night look for the purification God wants to do. Don’t waste the opportunity or resist and make God’s job harder than it already is!
[1] John of the Cross, Collected Works, 164-165. This is in Ascent of Mount Carmel, Book Two, Chapter 5, para. 6-8.
