The Dark Night of the Wait by John C. Meyer

By John C. Meyer
   

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Ok, so I am online a lot and because social media can have a way of showing us all sides of the human personality, we are prone to reading or hearing something that may be more of a cover up rather than the real truth of what's going inside of a person. I am a firm believer that everyone should be given a fair shot when you read their profile, their commentary or listen to their video. Personally, I like to read what someone has to say rather than watching their facial expressions on a video and having to wade through the mask of what may be really going with that particular person. Having been blessed with hyper-visual eyesight has its positive and negative sides, and it seems that I have become unusually sensitive to fakery and illusionary speech when it comes to watching video these days. So in order for me to stay clear of sometimes critical behavior while watching, I have had to be very selective in what I take in. Oh! So you feel the same way? Good! I thought perhaps I may have been losing it a little.

 

I think the internet is the next best thing to hot dark chocolate "anything", so I really don't go along with the naysayer or the religiously staunch when it comes to banning social media and engaging in interesting conversation online. Heck, I have met some life long friends online, so to say it is evil or that being online is some kind of curse is just plain nonsense to those with even the slightest bit of divine discernment. It's like anything; just have balance in eating that 10 pound chocolate cake and you'll be just fine. I must be thinking about chocolate a lot, hmmm....so sorry, do you have any to spare? I'm out and I really need a choco fix right about now.  No worries, I'm not addicted! Well? Maybe, but please don't pray for me.

 

God is Speaking in the Silence of a Candle

 

Ok, back to the reason I am writing about the "dark night of the wait". As of late I have found myself reassessing my life quite a bit in many areas. It's not like I really wanted to it's just that I found myself having to because of where God has me in this part of my journey. Have you ever been in a season of life where you felt like you were out in the middle of a huge lake in the middle of the night, but you weren't afraid because you knew God was there? It wasn't like He was there in person where you could reach out and touch Him or even hear His voice loudly, but it's like He was there in the stillness and silence of a candle at the bow of the boat barely lighting up the surface of the water as you floated along in the night. Have you ever felt like that with God? You know He is there, but He isn't saying a whole lot yet seems to be speaking volumes by the well lit silence of the candle burning at the front of your boat.

 

I can't tell you how many people I have encountered on social media land and in person where they feel just like that. They know God is still with them and they know that He is doing a deep inner work, yet it feels like He is ever so quiet in His response to the outer man plea of needing relief. You see, many of us cry out for an immediate flood-light of an answer to the trauma of the wait and in return all we get is the flickering of an eternal candle that seems to point the way in silence. Why is it that God seems so distant sometimes yet so close in the way He will not allow us to give up to the mediocrity that surrounds us? I think one of the reasons is that His inner development in us is such that it cannot be heard in the noise of the splashing of the call. So He commits to the eternal workings inside of His temple and He will sometimes hold us back long enough to ensure we know with certainty that we are not only prepared, but loved with a oneness that will carry us into His plan. It's for the purpose of stopping EGO from becoming our lead and having hurriedness in our soul.

 

The Wait is Different for Everyone

 

So many of us want the "perfect will" of God for our lives, yet we seem to forget that if we really want the completeness of His desire then we may just find ourselves in places and faces we would rather not be found in for a period of time. I mean really, if we desire greatness and that is what He has shown us to be our portion, then when we find ourselves serving lunch behind the bars of a place we are locked down to for a season we must remember our plea to God. Your "dark night" may very well be that of having to feed patience to someone you would rather slap than be nice to. Anyone know what I'm talkin' about? Or, it may be that you are finding yourself stepping out in faith again believing God for everything along the way and it's really the last thing you wanted to do because of the last 14 times you tried it and fell face first in the mud. Whatever the case, "the wait" is different for everyone.

 

The wait is something more, way more than what meets the eye. It is a process of yielding and one of amazing discovery. It's not meant to be a time of sitting impatiently while screaming out to God in prayer just hoping He will hear your "sorry" condition. It's not like He is going to say "Oh boy, I really feel sorry for Johnny, He looks so miserable and his vocal chords are about ready to burst, I better swing the door open immediately and let him get his way". No, our Father loves us way too much to throw a sucker in our mouth and turn the DVD player on to give us our way all the time. Remember, when you have prayed for His best, He isn't going to be so quick to just give us everything our impatient soul desires.

 

James 1:4 AMP But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be people perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing.

 

When we keep our hearts fixed on the love that keeps that candle burning in our boat while we are in "the wait", we will find ourselves hearing the excitement of His whisper when he does open the door to move us forward in the next chapter of our lives or the assignment he has for us. You may be feeling the "loneliness" of the dark night of the wait, but rest assured He is The God of the darkness as well as the light.

 

So if you are reading this in social media land, just remember the gold old saying "this too shall pass". But if you want my advice, learn to lie back in the boat while floating in the "darkness" out on your lake. In doing so, you may just find yourself moored at the dock on the other side quicker than you thought possible. And you may just find yourself being a little more authentic in those videos you're posting.

 

Learning to rest patiently in the wait,

 

John C. Meyer

livinginpurpose@gmail.com

www.unforcedliving.com

 

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