James 5 from the Message...
Writing from Zephyrhills, Florida this week...home to Bishop Carl Hemphill and his bride Shelbie...aka Mom and Dad. I guess my dad would be considered the "original" Bishop and pastor in the family. We pulled away for a few days to be refreshed and renewed. The last5 months have been pretty intense months of fundraising, ministry, and battling for hearts.
"The dark night of the soul is a totally loving, healing, and liberating process. Whether it feels that way is another question entirely. Nowadays most people think of the dark night of the soul as a time of suffering and tribulation--redemptive perhaps, but entirely unpleasant. This is not always the case.
The only characteristic of the experience of the dark night that is certain is its obscurity. One simply does not comprehend clearly what is happening. Some dark-night experiences, as I have indicated, may be quite pleasant. One friend of mine, driven by unrelenting perfectionism, had dedicated his adult life to doing everything right. He had a sense of humor, and we had good times together, but it hurt to see the pain his self-judgment was causing him. Then, gradually and inexplicably, he felt himself relaxing. He was delightfully liberated from his burdensome sense of responsibility; he was 'free just to be', as he put it. Although he wasn't sure what was going on and at times wondered if he might just be getting lazy, his overall experience of the change was joyful.
For another person in another situation, the same kind of liberation might be very painful. When I was practicing psychiatry, a woman came to see me for depression. She had spent her life taking care of her family, frequently neglecting her own interests in the process. She felt guilty about anything she did for herself. She struggled with a sense of emptiness after her children had grown up and was later devastated to discover that her husband was having an affair. The experience was beginning to ease her care-taking compulsion, but it certainly did not feel like liberation. All she felt was pain, loss, and abandonment. Glimpses of her growing freedom made her even more depressed at first, because in relinquishing her total dedication to her marriage and family, she felt she was losing her only source of worth. Gradually, however, she began to enjoy time for herself. And in ways so subtle as to be almost unnoticeable amidst her pain, she began to feel a sense of meaning and value not for things she did, but just for who she was.
Liberation, whether experienced pleasurably or painfully, always involves relinquishment, some kind of loss. It may be a loss of something we're glad to be rid of, like a bad habit, or something we cling to for dear life, like a love relationship. Either way it's still a loss. Thus even when a dark-night experience is pleasant, there is still likely to be an accompanying sense of emptiness and perhaps even grief. Conversely, when a dark-night experience leaves us feeling tragically bereft, there still may be a sense of openness and fresh possibility. The point is, no matter how hard we try, we cannot see the process clearly. We only know what we're feeling at a given time, and that determines whether our experience is pleasurable or painful. As one of my friends often says, 'God only knows what's really going on--literally!'"
(excerpt from The Dark Night of the Soul by Gerald G. May)
our resident photographer, Gabe Thomas, shot some great pics from our last campout...
“But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside. I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.” Job 23:10-12
Job, in his journey of holiness, is confronted with a faith fork in the road. It is a crisis of belief that will determine the path ahead. The road on the left is paved with the philosophies of his buddies. It is a self-made theology that says “you just need to do more to be at peace with God.” Good ol’ Eliphaz bubbles over with his babbling beliefs…
“Submit to God and be at peace with him…” Eliphaz is basically pointing out the supposed sin in Job’s life. “Surely,” he would say, “God is testing you in order to deal with and cut away all the sin in your life. Boy, Job, you must really be out of fellowship with God.” Ever had a friend like that? They seem to always have the right answers in their hip pocket. They toss out their religious jargon offering up simple solutions. Yet, the road to holiness is not always paved so clearly. Faith is believing even when you don’t see the road ahead. Faith is driving without your lights on. It does not always involve the simple, quick-fix methods that some want to offer up.
So, Job takes the other path. The path of trusting obedience. The path of simple faith. He answers in the next chapter with something that is profoundly applicable for our individual journeys. The testing that God allowed in his life was for the purpose of bringing forth the gold of integrity and character. He had been faithful. He had been keeping God’s Word. Was he perfect? Of course not. Yet, his heart was set on journey.
Testing is God’s tool of mining the heart of every believer. To mine is to go deep in order to find treasure and gold. To get there, you must cut through layers of dirt and rubble. But that is not the goal. The goal and ultimate desire is to find hidden treasure. Hidden treasure is only found in the depths of the earth.
Deep within every believer is a gold mine, a treasure beyond measure. It is the hidden character of Christ. The fruit of His Spirit. The mind of Christ. These jewels are buried deep within the heart of the chosen ones. Yet, they need to be discovered. They need to be mined. So, God uses testings and trials to reveal and expose these treasures. Certainly there are layers of sin and pride that must be carved through. There is much earthy dirt and rubble that must be hammered through. Yet, that is not the goal. God’s desire is to mine deep in order to bring forth the mind of Christ. To have the mind of Christ, you must be the “mined” of Christ.
Today, be thankful for seasons of testing. Others, even friends, may try to offer up man-made solutions about your unique journey. They may say that you are out of fellowship with God. They may want to concentrate on the rubble in your road. Though their path looks paved and well manicured…be cautious. To steer clear of testing is to steer clear of God. Embrace the testing as the mining tool of God. Get ready to go deep.
