15. Pillars of rest – Transition

Ever felt like you were in Limbo. You cannot move forward and to go backward is not an option.

Trust me, I’ve been where you are, 8 years to be exact. The buildup of frustration would be so bad that the soul feels like it’s going to explode. Every kind of emotion and thought would rise while trying to work it out yourself to move one step.

Transition into divine Union

Do not worry. You do not have to go through an 8-year cycle of frustration. What I did not know at the time was it was soul transitioning and not frustration. All I wanted was to grow in God and be so full of Him that nothing else would matter. So, God granted my heart. I did not understand the fullness of what I was asking. I wanted God to transition me from how I saw myself to who He created me to be. If I understood that it was not a period of limbo but transition I might have moved through it with a different view point and achieved it much quicker.

Mystics like Madame Guyon, Teresa of Avila, and John of the Cross call this the Dark Night of the Soul. The transition from the frustration of the outer world to the divine love of the inward feast. This inner feast is our Union with God.

I learned so much about this path from Madame Guyon. She was the first mystic that touched my soul, understanding my inner cry.

She passed through three different stages of remembering, God was with her, to God was in her, to a state of Union. This state of union with God goes beyond the soul, (mind, will, and emotions), into God.

“Before, it was as though God were enclosed within me and I was united with Him in my inmost soul, but afterward it was as though I were absorbed into the sea itself […]. My mind is surprisingly clear. Sometimes I was surprised to find that there appeared not one thought. The imagination, formerly so restless, now no more troubles me. I have no more perplexity or uneasiness, nor am I occupied with memories. All is stark and clear, and God makes my soul know and think what pleases Him, and there are no more strange images to trouble my mind.” Madame Guyon

Everyone will go through this phase in different lengths of time or even depths if they allow it. For Theresa of Avila, it was quick. Madame Guyon felt like it would be a continuous road, of turning the soul inward to meet Divine Union with God. The depth of the union with God will depend on how much you yield to your heart.

Guyon would hold space for her soul to gently move back into the stillness of no thought. Every time the soul would wander through life’s doings, she would pull herself inward again.

The Rising fear of darkness

I believe many experienced the turmoil of the soul. However, they never push past it into a place of rest. They believe this is the life handed to them, and the burden they should carry all their lives. Or they are too afraid to sit in the darkness. We are taught to run away from everything dark and only toward the light. But there can be no light without the dark.

However, scripture is clear on this matter.

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavily burdened [by religious rituals that provide no peace], and I will give you rest [refreshing your souls with salvation]. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me [following Me as My disciple], for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest (renewal, blessed quiet) for your souls. For My yoke is easy [to bear] and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

Some might try to get out of what life has dealt them, but they will do it with the religious rituals that provide little to no outcome. E.g., ever fasted, prayed, interceded for copious amounts of time and nothing happened? Your frustration rises because why will God not deliver you from your torture. While we indeed cause more turmoil on ourselves by doing these rituals with very little to no outcome.

I know some of you might say those rituals worked, that is amazing. I honor that and bless that. Doing those things to see a specific outcome is from a place of religion and not from rest. Think about it? Why did Jesus go into the desert to fast for 40 days? The first point is the Spirit led Him into the desert. Secondly, He was tempted in the wilderness. Fasting brings out what might be hidden in the soul.

Holding space for the Soul

I believe the only outcome Jesus had from the wilderness was a laid down soul. An inward turning of the soul to the spirit within. He was in complete rest. While tempted He didn’t respond from emotional crisis mode. He was so deeply turned inward that He knew who His Father was. His soul submitted fully to His spirit. I have often heard people say He knew already because He is the Son of God. Let me point this out. Jesus came to redeem the world and be the first example to follow. Therefore, He would have to go through exactly what we go through to show us how to overcome.

In the time of wilderness, Jesus went through the dark night of His soul. He had to practice Rest, He needed to guide His soul to submit to His spirit. He was fully man with all the turmoil of a man. I believe this was preparation for Christ to practice the yielding of His soul. Jesus could surrender His will because His soul yielded fully trusting in His Spirit and God. Fasting helps us to become sensitive to God, connecting soul to spirit. Fasting is a doorway into God’s rest.

Going through your wilderness, through the dark night of your soul you allow your soul to practice submission and to yield to rest. You are holding space for the soul to heal in the place of rest. I call it transition when I hold this space for my soul to come into rest. Frustration stopped me from entering in.

It’s important to know while practicing getting into this yielded place of union, traumas or wrong beliefs come to the surface. That’s when it all seems dark. It’s at, this time you will have to deal with those things, heal the soul and move on through the wilderness. The divine connection is truly the most wonderful place you want to achieve.

“My inner prayer was in an openness and singleness inconceivable, yet, at the same time, of inexplicable depth. I allowed myself to be led from moment to moment by daily providence, without thinking of tomorrow. My soul was in a state of abandonment so perfect, within as much as without, that it could neither judge nor measure anything. It was indifferent to being one way or another, in the company of one or another, in inner prayer or in conversation.” Madame Guyon

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