La noche oscura del alma is a way that some people end up treading. Some go that way and some do not. Great value can be found along that path, although there is pain and sadness along the way.
Good reference, Howard. I've wondered if that was the path I was on.
I wrote a bit on it a while back. I'll have to see if I can dig it up.
Here it is:
Hebrews 12:4 You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin;
5 and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons,
"MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD,
NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM;
6 FOR THOSE )WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES,
AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES."
7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
9 Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?
10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness.
11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterward it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
12 Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble,
13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.
THE SCOURGE OF GOD
The nature of chatisement is explicit in the diversity of troubles and sorrows that are imposed by the Lord upon his children, usually in the sense that he allows such things to befall them, with the holy and benevolent intention of improving the quality of their spiritual lives. An Old Testament example is Job who suffered the loss of wealth, loved ones, reputation, health, and honor - all upon the specific permission of God. David also suffered chastening in the matter of Shimei's throwing stones and cursing the king (2 Samuel 16:9); and David's submissiveness to that sore trial was evidenced by his saying, "The Lord hath bidden him." It is, therefore, a mistake for the Christian to view his tribulations in a sense of stoicism, or as a result of blind chance, or as the operation of the law of averages. There is an eternal purpose of God toward his children; and that purpose is personal and corrective - such is the meaning of chastisement. The full nature of it is revealed in that it wears many faces, appearing and reappearing in an infinite pattern of sorrows and hardships. It is the experience of all of God's children, there being no exceptions whatever, the absence of it denoting no favoritism on God's part, but the illegitimacy of the one apparently favored. It is a severe experience, as revealed by such a word as "scourges," applied to it here, and is not to be understood as any mock trial or superficial difficulty; but the child of God is confronted with actual tribulations designed to test the hearts of all them that pass through them. The chastening of Israel (Isaiah 1:5,6) showed "wounds and bruises"; and the true Christian bears in his body the marks of the Lord Jesus (Galatians 6:16).
The purpose of chastisement, as revealed in the following verses, is totally benevolent and springs from the infinite love of God for his weak and sinful human children. Three designs are involved: (1) that of correcting our faults; (2) strengthening our faith; and (3) promoting our eternal welfare. It is not God's will that his children should have everything they desire in this life. Riches and luxuries may cause pride to flourish in the heart; success in life's various projects may cause people to trust in themselves; and even true righteousness may lead to despising others; but against all such eventualities, the chastening rod of the Lord is upon the believer.
The scourge of God is the instrument of change the Lord wields to tear away all but what is the base state of being. When a person comes to a certain point in their life, they realize that they've squandered their years of things that, in the end, do not matter. They have but two choices. They can go about their lives as they have, grinding away in the clutches of uselessness until they come to their final, crushing, end. Or they can fall to their knees and submit to a Reforming. Much as metal is melted down, the dross skimmed off and the pure metal formed and reforged, God wields His scourge
to tear away the useless vestiges of vanity and ruin. Only after these have been removed, can the base person, the very structure upon which the soul is constructed be exposed, cleansed and prepared to build the new person atop.
Why the scourge? Why not another tool, another metaphor? Because this breaking down, this removal of the dross of life is not like changing one's clothes. It is like tearing away the skin. It is hurtful, it is uncomfortable. At first, it comes with great pain and sorrow, then, when all is lost, when all has been removed, comes clarity.
With clarity comes relief. Relief that one is finally freed from the bonds they had put themselves in. They can see the world for what it is. They can see what really matters. It is something that cannot be adequately put in words, it must be experienced. Only once one has been brought to nothing, when all fo what they thought is them is gone, do they see who they truly are.
Beware, however. Once one has underwent the scourge, there is no going back. The world will see who you have become. They will see what you do, how you think. They will look upon your life and wonder. They will not understand. Why do you no longer see as they see? Why do you no longer care about the things they see as all-important? Why do you have this air about you. They will not understand because they do not know the freedom that you live, because they do not know freedom, they only know their slavery. They look upon your freedom and they will be afraid. They fear what they do not know. What they will not know is
you. Ah, but He knows you and you know Him.
