On December 11, 1979, Mother Teresa, the “Saint of the Gutters,” was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Accepting the award, she reminded us: “It is not enough for us to say, ‘I love God, but I do not love my neighbor,’” since in dying on the Cross, God had “[made] Himself the hungry one – the naked one – the homeless one.”

Yet less than three months earlier she faced the darkest despair, writing in a letter: “…as for me, the silence and the emptiness is so great, that I look and do not see, listen and do not hear – the tongue moves [in prayer] but does not speak.”

Difficult times are an inevitable part of our Christian walk. Perhaps we feel we’re wandering in a spiritual wilderness. Perhaps we’ve experienced disappointment. Perhaps when we pray, it seems like those prayers are bouncing off an iron ceiling. Times like these can stretch our faith to the breaking point.

St. John of the Cross called this “the dark night of the soul”.

King David, a “man after God’s own Heart” wrote Psalm 143 during one of these times. We don’t know what the situation was, but we glimpse his desperation: “Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my pleas for mercy!” (verse 1)

Reading this psalm, I’m inevitably drawn back to the Cross, where we see a similar moment in Jesus’s life. The night before He was crucified, Jesus was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was in such anguish “…His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” (Luke 22:44)

When we’re floundering, we can follow the example of both the psalmist in Psalm 143 and Jesus in the Garden:

•Cry out to God: “In your faithfulness answer me…!” (Psalm 143:1);

•Remember God’s Goodness: “Let the morning bring me word of Your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in You” (Psalm 143:8); and,

•Surrender to God: “My Father, if this cup cannot pass away unless I drink from it, Your will be done.” (Matthew 26:42)

With Christ’s Ultimate Victory on the Cross, we have the comfort of knowing that “there is no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper still”. (Corrie Ten Boom)

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, please renew my hope in You in times of trouble. When I’m confronted with dark moments that bring me low, help me to come to You in prayer and remember Your Goodness and Love.