What happens when the faith we’ve built our lives around collides with the hardest seasons we never saw coming?

Is there something deeper God wants to do in our hearts—and in our churches—when comfort drops away and the “dark night of the soul” invades our story?

I’m in the middle of one of those messy seasons—the kind where the rug gets ripped out from under you and you are left scratching your head, wondering:

👉 “Lord, what in the world are You doing? I didn’t see all of this stress and confusion and separation and loss coming.”

It was right in the middle of this storm that I sat down with Isaac Gay for the latest episode ofCHRISTIAN PARENT/CRAZY WORLD. We had planned to talk about something entirely different… but the Holy Spirit had other plans.

We started off discussing “the dark night of the soul,” and before long, we were talking about how our corner of Christianity—the Charismatic corner—often doesn’t prepare us for that kind of season.

From there, our conversation spiraled into something raw, real, and needed:

• The strengths of the Charismatic movement 🙌
• The weaknesses we must face 💔
• And the beautiful things we can glean from other Christian traditions 🌿

This wasn’t the conversation we planned. But it was the conversation we needed.

---

🎨 Meet Isaac Gay

Isaac is a multifaceted artist working at the intersection of creativity, spirituality, and contemporary thought. As a worship leader, thinker, and writer, Isaac’s heart is one of an iconoclast, while remaining grounded in the enduring principles of orthodox Christianity.

He and his wife Emily host the Not Crushing It Podcast (debuting soon) and are raising three children together. Isaac also holds a Master of Letters from the University of Aberdeenand recently launched The Parallel Society, a  community that equips the church by empowering artists to engage the world.

Like me, Isaac is a parent, a creative, and a believer navigating the wilderness—someone who understands that this journey isn’t about quick fixes but about deep roots.

---

🗝 Key Discussion Highlights:

🌑Facing the Dark Night of the Soul
Isaac and I share honestly about walking through bewildering, painful seasons—job loss, uncertainty, and spiritual dryness. These times aren’t detours but a necessary stage of maturing faith, echoing wisdom from church history and voices like John of the Cross and James Fowler.

💬 “The dark night of the soul isn’t a detour—it’s where faith grows roots.” 🌱
🔥Charismatic Strengths (and Where We Falter)
We celebrate what’s unique about the Charismatic tradition: a powerful embrace of God’s presence, expectant faith, and openness to the miraculous.

But—we also urge charismatics not to neglect robust theology, intellectual engagement, and spiritual disciplines. We can (and should) glean from other traditions.

💬 “I want to be a church with theology that can’t be dismissed and power that can’t be denied.”
– Isaac Gay ⚡
🤝Learning from the Wider Body of Christ
Why do we so quickly dismiss what isn’t from “our camp”? With humility, we explored how we might borrow the best from high-church liturgies, deep apologetics, and centuries-old practices—without losing the vibrancy of the Spirit.

💬 “We don’t lose the Spirit when we learn from the saints.” 🙏
👩‍👧Parenting That Goes Beyond Comfort
I shared about leaving behind a comfortable, “social club” church when my kids’ spiritual lives started to wither. We needed “deep, rich, challenging soil” to help them re-engage with a faith that is real and stretching.

💬 “It is very important where you plant your kids
– Catherine Segars 🌳.”
🌱Faithfulness in the Mundane and the Miraculous
The Christian life isn’t always sensational. Sometimes faith looks like holding steady in obscurity and in suffering—not just on the mountaintops.

💬 “Following Jesus isn’t always sensational. Sometimes it’s just,
‘Lord, give me grace to get through my workday.’”
– Isaac Gay 🛠
🏡Preparing Kids for a Real, Resilient Faith
From family liturgies at home to honest conversations about doubt, we asked the critical parenting question:
👉 Will our children be ready to cling to Christ when trials come?

💬 “Good churchgoers aren’t enough. We need resilient disciples.” ✝️

---

🎧 Listen to this refreshing episode now on Life Audio:

 

Or you can listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Google Podcasts, Pocket Casts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 

---

🎧Why This Conversation Matters for Parents

Whether you’re Charismatic, Baptist, Anglican, Presbyterian, or somewhere in between—this episode is for you. Because raising kids who can handle the storms of life and the storms of faith is something every Christian parent longs to do.
This isn’t about style or denomination. It’s about preparing the next generation to know:

• God’s truth 🕊
• God’s presence ✝️
• And God’s grace in both sunshine and storm 🌦

---

💭 Reflection for Parents

What about you?

• How is your church—and your home—preparing your children to handle the dark nights of faith?
• What steps can you take this week to strengthen their roots in Christ—head, heart, and Spirit?

Because the storms will come. The question is: Will our children stand?

---

📢 Continue the Conversation

✨ Discover more from Isaac and Emily Gay at isaacandemilygay.com and keep an eye out for their upcoming Not Crushing It Podcast.

🎙 And don’t miss my next episode, where I dig deeper into what God is doing in our lives during the dark night of the soul.

Meet the guest: Isaac Gay is a multifaceted artist working at the intersection of creativity, spirituality, and contemporary thought. As a worship leader, thinker, and writer, Isaac’s heart is one of an iconoclast, while remaining grounded in the enduring principles of orthodox Christianity. He and his wife Emily are the hosts of the Not Crushing It Podcast, and have three children. He holds a Master of Letters from the University of Aberdeen.

Episode Resources:

Isaac’s Website, The Parallel Society, Instagram

Catherine’s FREE RESOURCES—Prodigal Bundle, Scriptures Lists, Scripture Songs, Ebook Beyond the Lies: Uncovering 5 Myths Our Culture Spreads to Mothers