The Dark Night of the Soul (John 16:16–33)
“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (Jn 16:33)
When Faith Feels Like Losing
John 16 captures one of the most vulnerable moments in the life of the disciples when Jesus tells them he’s leaving. Their world starts to unravel. They’ve already given up so much to follow him, and now, he says even he is going away. But in that loss, Jesus speaks to them about the difficulty of the journey ahead, but also about the transformation that they are about to experience.
This passage has long served as comfort to Christians who find themselves in seasons of disorientation or spiritual desolation—what Christian mystics call “the dark night of the soul.” It’s not punishment. It’s a kind of spiritual labor, a necessary process to bring about new life. Jesus compares it to childbirth: pain that leads to joy.
When the Lights Go Out
The dark night of the soul often begins with a loss of clarity as prayers begin to feel dry, community starts to feel distant, and God falls silent. You may be grieving the life you used to have, or the person you used to be. It can feel like everything is falling apart. But for many, that’s also when real faith begins to form. Not belief based on certainty or comfort, but belief shaped by endurance, humility, and love.
Jesus doesn’t minimize the pain. Instead, He names it and gives it meaning. “You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.” He does not deny reality, but he does promise that even in the confusion, something new is being born.
This text is for the ones who have been pushed out of religious spaces because they followed Jesus too far toward justice and inclusion.
It’s for the ones who are anxious about where life is headed and want answers they’re not getting.
It’s for the ones who can’t see the light yet, but are still choosing to walk the path.
Jesus doesn’t promise easy explanations, but He promises them that they will not be alone, and that there will be beauty on the other end.
Questions for Reflection and Conversation:
1. Have you ever experienced a “dark night of the soul”—a season where God felt absent or faith felt like grief?
What changed in you during or after that time?
2. Jesus uses childbirth as a metaphor for pain that leads to joy.
Can you think of a time when something new and meaningful came out of a painful season?
3. What does that tell us about the intended audience—and maybe about us?
4. How can our stories of pain and faith help those who are currently struggling to hold onto hope?
5. What might it look like to “learn to breathe at this depth”—to trust God not just to rescue you from pain, but to meet you in it?