Navigating Thru Spiritual Desolation
Daily life is difficult with its many ups and downs paired with the tug of war we experience in our daily life as we strive to practice our faith and somehow arrive in Heaven once it is all said and done. How do we get there? Why is it so hard to get there? Isn’t this life hard enough?
There are many answers to these questions. One of the simplest answers is by simply practicing our faith and choosing not to give up in moments where we feel like God does not even exist. There are days and moments in life where it feels like we are all alone and there is no one to help us. This has been especially true the past couples years in the COVID-19 pandemic. It turned our world upside down. Things that mattered no longer mattered as it came down to just surviving through it.
There was much grace that came through all of this, but sometimes it felt like desolation. Churches were closed, so where was God. The answer: right beside us, behind us, in front of us and with us. God never leaves us! If he did we would cease to exist quite honestly. He is so involved in our daily lives every moment. How do we know that? We are still breathing.
There are many reasons we may end up in spiritual desolation. St. Ignatius of Loyola tells us there are three reasons in his rules given in the spiritual exercises to help guide us. What often feels like abandonment, really is the way of cross to grow us into loving people that can enter Heaven. Sometimes as St. Ignatius tells us we can end up in spiritual desolation because we are going the wrong way, “becoming lazy or tepid” in practicing our faith. Simply, it just allows the enemy to open a door to guide us away from the Lord.
Mother Teresa lived out of the conviction that, even though she could not feel Our Lord present, he had never abandoned her.
National Catholic Register website: www.ncregister.com/blog/mother-teresa-god-does-not-abandon-us
Really what St. Mother Teresa is talking about in the National Catholic Register article noted above is a different reason where God allows us to choose him. He blesses us so much and gives us so much that we often can become complacent or puffed up thinking we are becoming holy. One piece of advice I give is if that crosses your mind turn around and run from that thought. There is nothing holy enough in each of us to even come close to worshiping God the way he deserves, yet he comes to us. Sin, which includes pride, cannot exist in Heaven. We have to let go of all the things of this world and detach from them in order to enter the heavenly gates. Jesus set the example: he came into the world with nothing and left the world with nothing. Then he showed us what resurrection meant with new life that does not suffer any more.
Where is God working in your life? If you are experiencing spiritual desolation, which can also be called dark night of the soul, what is God asking you to choose. Choosing him is always the perfect choice. It is freedom from bondage of attachment to the world, whatever that may be in our lives. Ask God to show how to choose him in every part of your life. I can tell you personally you will see amazing things as you walk the journey to let go and let God take over. It is great peace!
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