“Moreover, I will make you a desolation and a reproach among the nations that are around you, in the sight of all that pass by.” Ezekiel 5:14
“You shall be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of your sister Samaria.” Ezekiel. 23:33
“Then shall they know that I am the LORD, when I have made the land a desolation and an astonishment, because of all their abominations which they have committed.” Ezekiel 33:29
“Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger; to make the land a desolation, and to destroy its sinners out of it.” Isaiah 13:9
“Therefore, evil will come on you; you won’t know when it dawns: and mischief will fall on you; you will not be able to put it away: and desolation shall come on you suddenly, which you don’t know.” Isaiah 47:11
Evil runs mad within the darkness overshadowing our land. As we gaze with horror, righteous anger, and sorrow upon the cruelty, violence, destruction, and lawlessness, we hear continuous lies and hate-fueled mass propaganda coming from our evil media on a daily basis. It fills the ears of the maddened eyes-wide-shut crowd. We also hear of the sadistic dismembering and murdering of babies and witness the catastrophic corruption of our education system and the soul-hardening grotesque sexual perversion and satanic gender-transitioning of the children attending these pits of evil. Then there is the collapse of truth and objective morality into autonomous subjectivism, idolatry, and nihilism wherein each idolator is preoccupied with ‘self.’ Self-actualization and self-esteem are the highest goods, thus, there is no true truth, only “my truth,” which may or may not be “your truth.” Along with these evils we see the emergence of a satanically inhuman, perverse techno-state obsessed with attaining total control over humanity and then the final abolition of humanity itself.
During these days of darkness and spiritual desolation, we see evil on all sides and feel sadness because our Lord seems distant, and we wonder if He hears our prayers. Out of these dreadful conditions two types of Christians are emerging. Those who run away from the Lord and those who cling to Him all the harder despite suffering in darkness and spiritual desolation.
The two fundamental experiences of the second kind of Christian are consolations–uplifting experiences of hope, joy, and trust in the Lord– and desolations, the dark night of the soul when the Lord seems absent. Unless we know how to handle desolations, they might cause us harm. So, what are we to do?
First, in times of desolation we must not change our spiritual life but continue to worship Him, trust Him, love Him, and take everything to Him in prayer. Oftentimes, when we are in the midst of spiritual desolation the Evil One will tempt us to change our spiritual life, perhaps with the lie of a new way of reaching Him through the popular Hindu style mind-emptying meditation technique in the hope of feeling His presence and hearing His voice. Or the Evil One might tempt us to despair of experiencing the closeness of our Lord ever again. Then again, he might tempt us to believe that evil will triumph over good and darkness over Light. We must resolutely resist Satan’s temptations.
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy; it does not boast; it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs…” 1 Corinthians 13:4-5
Second, we must always seek the good, true, and beautiful, for the Word of God itself is good, true, and beautiful and reveals these as attributes, together with love, of the triune God. (Ps. 27: 4, 13; John 17:17) Therefore, we must deliberately and willfully choose love (1 Cor. 13:4-5) rather than hate, beauty rather than ugliness, gratitude rather than selfish ingratitude, patience instead of impatience, and joy and thankfulness for each and every blessing our Lord gives us on a daily basis. For instance, do we have food to eat, a roof over our head, and shoes on our feet? Thank the Lord, for He is good. Do we rise in the morning to the Lord’s songbird choirs? Thank the lord, for He is good.
No matter how sorrowful or depressed we might feel on any given day, and despite burdens, sickness, disappointments, hurts, set backs, and spiritual desolation, we must always rise above these conditions and deliberately choose love, for love is what defeats evil and brings us peace. Love is what makes us fully human.
Finally, as our Lord is in absolute control, then we know this time of darkness and spiritual desolation will pass and the Light will shine all the more brightly.
Let us go to our Father in Heaven in prayer:
“But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.” Psalms 5:11
“To the chief Musician, of David, the servant of the LORD, who spake unto the LORD the words of this song in the day [that] the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul: And he said, I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.” Psalms 18:1
O Lord our God, though these days of darkness and desolation make us think You are far away and do not hear our prayers, we will nevertheless choose to strive all the harder to take everything in prayer to You; to hold more tightly to You Lord, and love You with all our spirit, soul, and body, for “who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love…” Micah 7: 18-19
And who but You Lord, walks with us through the valley of the shadow of death? “Even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we will fear no evil, for you are with us; your rod and your staff, they comfort us.” Psalm 23:4
So, in these days of darkness and desolation we choose to work all the harder to do Your will, O Lord, to be more grateful, loving, patient, kind, and caring, especially for our brothers and sisters in Christ who are suffering for the sake of the gospel and for all who have not yet heard or believed the gospel. We pray in the blessed name of the crucified risen Christ. Amen
Linda Kimball
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