Practicing the Presence of God Despite Feelings (Dr. John H. Coe)
"God, who is everywhere, never leaves, us. Yet He seems sometimes to be present, sometimes absent. If we do not know Him well, we do not realize that He may be more present to us when He is absent than when He is present." Thomas Merton, No Man is an Island
I've learned two new terminologies:
Consolation - Spiritual feelings of God's presence
Desolation - Spiritual feelings of God's absence
Notes from Dr. John H Coe:
Spiritual feelings do not necessarily correlate with maturity. If that is the case, spiritual feelings of God's presence (consolation) or absence (desolation) are less the result of our actions and more the gifts of God according to His purposes.
At times of Consolation, God purposefully to encourage us, give us a taste of the presence of God and to reinforce practicing spiritual discipline. In season of Consolation, it is a great time to give ourselves to spiritual disciplines, reading of the word, prayer. Open our heart deeply, soften the focus on everything else and focus on God, welcome a time of formation.
At times of Desolation, it is a time to mirror what in our heart. Faith practice of spiritual discipline to mirror what’s inside, to see part of our heart that will shock us. God needs to do a 'heart-surgery' to our heart that has falsely attached to something else other than God. "Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD." Deut. 8:2-3 When we are hungry, our heart to will open to God.
What is going on in this desolation, what is God doing?
Spirit of God wants to make our heart Him home.
Vice and sins in heart to be removed - purge the pockets in our heart that is filled with ourselves
Most of us will choose 'consolation' over 'transformation'. The Holy Spirit has a lot to fill us, He knows and desires more of us. God can only withdrawing to feel consolation to take us on a journey to deepen our relationship with Him.
Dark Nights: when God is going to purge the heart to draw nearer to you within.
Two forms of dark nights or seasons of purgation:
· First dark night of senses: for younger believers, purging them to the reliance of consolation, meaning the presence of God by feeling of consolation.
· Second dark night of the spirit: for older believers. Need to open new rivers of living water, where a good character developed a good theology in their life. Reliance upon their character, depend upon discipline and wisdom rather than on God.
2. What is going on in the dark nights:
· Biblically this stage is likened to Young mean: wrestle with the evil one, overcome him, you are strong, word abides in you. (IJohn 2:12-14)
· God withdraws spiritual consolation: At some point, bible reading, hearing sermon, prayer lose their pleasure dimension. Ministry loses its zest. The sense of our own good character no longer satisfies – we are left with experiencing the parts of ourselves that are filled with the self and not the Spirit – this is a gift to experience the truth of parts of ourselves – and so, we become hungry for God, we want to rivers of living water. (It is hard for us let go of consolation, like a baby wants bottle. God took the bottle away, in order to re-train our sense/discernment to open to His word.)
· The Experience: in the balance of our self and the Spirit working right through our psychological functioning, we typically experience dryness, distance from God, frustration, sense of moral failure, loneliness, spiritual impotence, confusion over allegiance to the world, self or God.
· How do you know if you are in a dark night:
a) During this time, it is very difficult to pray and do spiritual discipline. Holy Spirit is choosing to give you experience (a taste) of your heart that don’t like spiritual discipline. Sometimes when we aren’t excited about spiritual things because something else is in our heart.
b) Don’t want to meditate, prayer time less, because it becoming painful to see what’s going on with our soul.
c) Worry about the state of your soul, asking questions what’s wrong with me?
· Temptation in dark nights:
a) Temptation to think I am doing something wrong.
b) Pray harder, generate a spiritual feeling, making something up, trying to get that love and feeling back (e.g. reading spiritual books…etc.)
c) When it doesn’t work stop doing the discipline
d) When we silently despair that God will not come.
· Remember: God is so close: This dryness is a new, more profound work of God in our deep in order to have a true, honest relationship the Spirit is attempting to reveal the truth of ourselves in neediness, to help us despair of ourselves and independence and open us to declare our dependence on the Spirit (purgative contemplation). The is what it is to be filled with the Spirit to the level one can at the stage where they are still quite filled with their own autonomous hopes, desires, wants, joys, hatreds, sorrows etc. The Spirit intends to purge these from us to slowly fill us with His own hopes etc. Nevertheless, this purgative and negative-feeling experience is a profound work of the Spirit to open us to a deeper love based upon the truth of ourselves and His loving us in light of the good and the bad within us.
· What to do or how to experience these times of desolation/dark nights
a) Going through time of dryness may be a sign/work God is working in you. Open to that.
b) Spiritual discipline change in terms of their purpose. Mirror to reality.
c) About a person from the inside calling you to listen and to watch. What is it teaching and showing you.
d) A need to resist the temptation to spiritual fix yourself.
e) Expect and want nothing except what He has to give, follow the spirit.
f) Must resist the temptation to use spiritual discipline to generate spiritual feelings. Don’t muscle it up! NO! Just let it be! Open to His word.
g) Leaders of church, resist the temptation to generate spiritual experience to people. My task is to help people to open to consolation and desolation. Praying the experience.
h) Need to be faithful to continue to do the spiritual discipline that it becomes an opportunity.
i) Need to consider this spiritual dryness is an invitation to enter to truth of your heart and just ask the spirit to teach you…
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