I remember the first time I heard someone mention the term, “the dark night of the soul,” something resonated in my Spirit. I believe everyone has experienced their own dark night of the soul at some time or another. To me, the term now has more meaning because of the beautiful lessons the dark nights have taught me. One of the lessons I have learned about a season of darkness is emphasized in the book of John. “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain” (John 12:24).

The darkness the seed experiences has a purpose that produces life. When seeds are planted in the darkness of the soil, they first grow roots. Once the roots take hold, a tender plant emerges and breaks through the darkness of the soil. I am grateful to God that in His mercy He has prolonged the dark nights of my soul until the seeds planted there have taken root before they emerge through the darkness. If we do not have a good root system, then our seeds will not withstand the harshness the world produces.

I am learning to trust God in the process because the process is necessary for my soul to prosper. I do not have to understand why things happen in order to trust that God has a plan, even for the dark times I encounter. I just need to go to God in prayer and ask Him to show me if I have entered into this season by His appointment or by my wrong choices.

It is important to understand that botanically speaking the embryo in the seed lays dormant until the stored energy is released. Different seeds delay germination for months or years. I think it is interesting that the oldest documented germinated seed was nearly 2,000 years old! One of the reasons a seed remains dormant is that it waits until the conditions for survival are the most favorable. God always wants the best for you and He is willing to cause the seeds He has placed in your soul to remain dormant until they have the best conditions to succeed.

In my case, some of the seeds God placed in my soul had to remain dormant until the right conditions of forgiveness had been applied. As we focus on our theme of justice this year, we must consider the following Scripture: “Don’t be misled – you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant” (Galatians 6:7 NLT). God knows what is best for you and is willing to wait for your benefit. So, my prayer for you is that you experience the perfect plan of your Heavenly Father even during the dark nights of your soul.