Regaining Lost Ground

Pastor Shane Idleman: Trusting in his sovereignty is not just an intellectual exercise. I know that. Trusting in his sovereignty, it's really a life grounded in belief. It's anchored in faith, and it's sustained by worship. Trusting in sovereignty is not just a one-and-done. It's a lifestyle, pursuing him and seeking him so that the sovereignty of his hand of sovereignty gets anchored into your life. That's the anchor because of worship, because of prayer, because you've been seeking him, because the word. That's your anchor. That's the anchor that holds everything in place.

Guest (Male): Thank you for joining us here at Westside Christian Fellowship, located in Leona Valley, California, one hour north of Los Angeles. Today on Regaining Lost Ground, we hear part one of this liberating message from Pastor Shane titled "The Dark Night of the Soul."

Theologian and Pastor RC Sproul once said, "The presence of faith gives no guarantee of the absence of spiritual depression. However, the dark night of the soul always gives way to the brightness of the noonday light of the presence of God." Listen now as Pastor Shane lifts up every believer seeking to be free from torment of mind and soul and freely abounding in the true joy of the Lord. Live fresh today, right here on Regaining Lost Ground.

You can hear the whole message at Pastor Shane's YouTube and Rumble channels. Make sure to subscribe today. For more information, visit us online at westsidechristianfellowship.org. We also encourage you to hear more truth from Pastor Shane with the Idleman Unplugged weekly podcast. And now, from Westside Christian Fellowship in Leona Valley, California, here is Pastor Shane Idleman.

Pastor Shane Idleman: I'm going to talk about something tough this morning, but it's needed. And the title is "The Dark Night of the Soul." "The Dark Night of the Soul," and it is unapologetically topical. This phrase has been around for about 500 years in church history.

Last week, I talked about Peter being imprisoned. He probably saw or heard about James being killed, being martyred. And guess who's up next? I don't know if you've had a dark night of the soul like that before, but that's pretty overwhelming. I'm already ready for next week to get into more about Peter's prayer and Peter's in prison and how God delivers him. He goes to the church and the church doesn't believe it's him when God delivers him, and that's so important. I think the title of that message is "In Case of Emergency, Break This." It's going to be about prayer.

But this week, God was just pouring so much into my heart on this topic. We'll probably leave Isaiah up there for many of you to just focus on if you need to focus on something up on the screen. How about this one? "Fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

So here we go. Buckle up. Are you ready? The dark night of the soul refers to a period of intense spiritual desolation. It's a crisis of faith. It's a profound purification where one feels abandoned by God. No doubt Peter did. Ultimately intended to deepen our spiritual union with God.

And I think why this is so important too is I want to get it in... you know we're in the prisons in the Pando app. 500,000 views last year of prisoners throughout America watching this and needing that encouragement. And there's people here that need that encouragement. There's people watching live and on radio. It's such an important topic.

The dark night of the soul. It's a time where you feel God is not listening. Anybody ask those "why" questions? Where are you, God? Why am I going through this? Or more importantly, why is my child going through this? Oh, it's one thing to go through something, but it's something else to watch or lose a child.

It could be a destination prison or a diagnosis. Anybody had those dark nights of the soul? Everything's going good, and the doctor says, "I need you to come in." Or you get that news about someone else. It could be an intense struggle. Maybe you're doing great in all these areas, but there's an intense struggle. Spiritual warfare is real. Or a great catastrophe.

I'll tell you what, when you're going through it, the Book of Job comes alive. Get out the highlighter. And I don't even know what to say about that story. I mean, if you think you're going through it, just read the first chapter or two. It's incredible. And people speculate is it real, is it this... the Bible quotes it. I think God used it as one extreme example to show that we can get through things.

And here's the takeaway I'm really wanting to help you out as well: God's got this. Nothing happens outside of his sovereign control. It actually... God said, "Have you considered my servant Job?" And I prayed that, "Lord, do never, never say 'have you considered my servant Shane?'"

It's been a while since there's been affliction. Everything's going great. And as you know, when that happens, pride comes in. Comfort can be the enemy of Christianity. And this dark night of the soul, it is a battle that breaks you, and it is warfare that shapes you. It deeply challenges your faith, and it tests every fiber of your spiritual being.

And you don't choose it. It chooses you. You grope through the dark looking for the light as everything you trust in, hope for, and counted on completely falls apart. That's the dark night of the soul. And this is the time the enemy... his number one weapon without a shadow of a doubt is discouragement.

Because I can get through it if I'm encouraged, kind of joy-filled, God's in control. I can get through it. But when that discouragement comes in and that fear comes in, that's when depression sets in. He loves to discourage the believer. And I'm well aware today's topic may not apply to some of you. You might be doing great. There's not a care in the world. And thank God for that. I thank God for the mountaintops, don't you? I do not just want to live in the valley of the shadow of death for the rest of my life.

Thank God for that. But comfort and ease won't sustain you. They will destroy you. You can look this up. When the great sequoias are here, a couple hours away, and even you can look... they studied the soil, and trees and things don't grow when it's a nice sunny, calm day. They grow when the wind beats upon the branches and the trunks, and that's when they have to dig down and get those roots very strong. They have to strengthen themselves through the storm.

I love comfort. I love vacation and the lakes, and there's just not a care in the world. But it does make you spiritually lazy, doesn't it? It can. So the dark night of the soul... here's the benefits though: it intensifies intimacy with your Savior. It can intensify that intimacy you have with God. It can strengthen your trust in God. It can build faith. It develops humility and it shapes a worshiper.

Many of those, most I know who are worshipers, let me tell you their story. And it leads to deep repentance. Now, the negative side to that is it can take you away from intimacy. It can hurt your trust in God. It can hurt your faith. It can lead to pride. It can force you to walk away from worshiping.

I've met so many people who are mad at God decades later. And I understand it, but you can't live there. I mean, the prophets would ask. Isaiah would ask, "Lord, why? Why do the wicked prosper?" And they would go on some... wow! David... was it Psalm 71? I mean, the dark night of the soul! But you know what? They never leave it there. "But it had not been for the Lord on my side. Yet his mercies are sustained every day. Nevertheless." Oh, you need a "nevertheless" in your heart sometimes. "Nevertheless, the Lord is my strength."

And you turn that fear and that frustration, that failure... you turn from that and you turn back to God. It doesn't mean all that's fun, but it means now you're building your house on the right foundation. Let me tell you, the problem with pity parties is that they weaken you instead of strengthen you. We love pity parties, don't we?

Nobody cares. Nobody cares about me. Nobody's concerned. They're living their life. Look at what I'm going through. And that's hard, isn't it? But realize people will let you down every time. Your spouse will let you down. Because you're going through hell, but they're trying to live in heaven. You're living this hour by hour, but they've got a life to lead as well. People have got things to do.

It's hard, especially pastoring. It's hard when you try to be gripped by so many things going on. It can really wear you down if you begin to feel the pain and the passion of what people are going through. That's one thing that comes from stress of ministry, is feeling the pressure of that. And we hear that the church has let me down. You ever said that? I've said it many times. Leaders will let you down. Everybody will let you down. And that can actually be really good if it draws you closer to the one who will never let you down.

So you've got to get rid of the pity party. I love the pity parties too, myself, sometimes because you can eat whatever you want. Nobody's around. Now, here's the good news too: the light of revival, everything we've been praying for. You'll hear that talk a lot in America. "Oh, revival's here. Revival's here." Revival doesn't come by a superstar worship leader and a superstar speaker coming together on a platform. That's not revival. That's an event.

Revival comes from humble, broken believers crying out for more of God. We will not let go until we find you. I will not let go. I will not let go until you bless me, Lord. I'm going to seek you with all of my heart, with all of my strength. I'm going to cry out to the one true and living God, and then he revives.

And often that light of revival comes from the darkest hour. I don't know of any revival... and I've got books this high probably going back to the 1700s... the Welsh revivals, New Hebrides revivals, Duncan Campbell, Evan Roberts, Howell Harris, Griffith Jones, Daniel Rowlands. You get into the First Great Awakening of Wesley and Whitefield and Edwards, and you get into many of the revivals you've never even heard about... the camp revivals. They had revivals during the Civil War in America. None of them happened without first pain and darkness because that drew them to their knees.

That is what sparks revival. The flame of revival. So don't immediately pull someone out of the flames and become an enabler. God might be wanting to break them and break them and break them. I remember I think it was Lancaster. A guy's up at the altar just weeping and it's a deep thing. And somebody's like, "Hey, Pastor, why aren't you going to go pray for them?" No, I'm not stopping that. God's dealing with them. Let God... let God do it. I go, "Hey, you okay?" "Oh, yes. Sorry, Pastor." You just ruined that moment.

Now, there's a time and place for that, of course. But when God breaks you, only he can make you. Words of men fall on deaf ears. The light of revival often comes out the darkest hour. I just saw this week in CBN News: Christian revival is taking over the Middle East. Isn't that amazing? Why don't we read that here? We hear about Epstein files and all kinds of junk and the debauchery. Super Bowl halftime show... some guy's going to be, I guess, dressed up as a woman. Like, "Oh, this is wonderful." My Lord, America needs to repent.

And here's a great reminder for you: corporate revival, what we're praying for, never begins without personal revival. Does it not? What we need is personal revival in your hearts, and then watch what God will do. I often wonder... and Stephen can relate to this too, I'm sure... at that moment, 1999, hungover, if I said, "You know what? God hasn't helped me out of this," and I became a bitter alcoholic. We wouldn't be here. My family wouldn't be here.

You plus God is the majority. Watch what God does with one person on fire for him in your family. And you might not reach a lot of people. Can I just be honest? Kids, this might be good for you guys. When you're young, you think that if I could just make it... if I could just have that 100,000 followers... 500,000... if I could be a... it will destroy you. It will bring you more stress than you've ever felt in your life.

One post I did a week ago's got 2.2 million views, and I've never been called the F-word more in my life. My whole day is block, block, block, block, block, block, block, block. "You shouldn't do that." It's my page! Go do something on your own page, you clown. Sorry, told you I don't speak perfectly for an hour. Sometimes the flesh gets in there a little bit.

But you think that if I could just get this... and the higher you go, the deeper you better go in humility. That's why you see in ministry this person falls, this person falls, this, this, this... it's because they don't have the foundation of character and they're trying to build the name instead of build Christ. It's hard to fall when you're on your knees a lot. And I've heard it, you've said it: "God has forsaken me. God has forsaken me." No, he's trying to awaken you. Big difference. He never forsakes. He's there, it just feels... he's trying to awaken you.

But what do you do if he doesn't deliver you or heal you or fix you or those you love? What do you do then? Because that's why we're sometimes joyful and encouraged, like God's going to do this, he's going to heal me, he's going to fix this. And then you kind of realize, you know what? This isn't happening like I thought. Anybody think a certain way and God's not really inclined to follow your way of thinking?

And guys, this is so important. I want to get this point across. Especially the older you get, you've got to trust in his sovereignty. Trusting in his sovereignty is not just an intellectual exercise. "Ah, yes, I know that." Trusting in his sovereignty, it's really a life grounded in belief. It's anchored in faith, and it's sustained by worship.

Trusting in sovereignty is not just a one-and-done. It's a lifestyle pursuing him and seeking him. So the sovereignty of his hand gets anchored into your life. That's the anchor because of worship, because of prayer, because you've been seeking him, because the word. That's your anchor. That's the anchor that holds everything in place.

Now, let me drop some truth bombs. It does not mean that things will go as planned. I learned the lesson the hard way on that one. Because I thought when you become a Christian, God's sovereignty, my plans, yes! I will truly have my best life now. Retire by 40, have a bass boat, go to the mountains. God's sovereignty, yes!

But the reality is people become sick and pass on to glory. Some careers and marriages don't work out. Some calls to ministry never materialize and some dreams do die. I'm not trying to be a negative Nelly. I'm trying to shoot you straight because when you're prepared for life, you get through life.

And also here's one of my big concerns, especially in what they call charismatic churches. You cannot always blame a demonic attack when it may be God's sovereignty. His sovereignty. We start to say things like this, I've heard: "God always wants to heal you. Always. So the problem's not on his end. It's on your end." I've seen people with much better faith than me pass away.

And then these people, their life gets rocked because this genie in a bottle called God, this butler, isn't answering the prayer the way they thought. Sovereignty is, "Lord, I trust. I know you can heal. I believe, but help my unbelief. But Lord, I trust in you." Because often we pray for that healing to get us out of the fire. Let's be honest. But sometimes God allows us to stay in that fire.

Not everything is a demonic attack. You can't name it and claim it. You can't speak it into existence. If you just have enough faith... what about all the people healed in the Bible who didn't have a lot of faith? Now, Jesus says, "Because of their unbelief, I could not do many miracles there." So that obviously plays a role. A grumbling, complaining, woe-is-me, Eeyore.

Winnie the Pooh! Yep. This is supposed to be a serious message, guys. I probably shouldn't tell you this, but I liked Eeyore. I remember as a kid, I wanted to watch Eeyore, not some big teddy bear put his hand in honey. Eeyore, everything's negative. We can't always blame something challenging on a demonic attack.

Guest (Male): You've been listening to Regaining Lost Ground with Pastor Shane Idleman. You can find more information at westsidechristianfellowship.org. That's westsidechristianfellowship.org. And for all the latest on what God is doing with his ministry here, please be sure to follow us on most social media platforms. Westside Christian Fellowship is located 60 miles north of Los Angeles in Leona Valley, California. Thank you again for listening to today's message of Regaining Lost Ground, where we are reminded daily: times change, truth does not.