Stripped: Trusting God When He Allows Others to Hurt Youಮಾದರಿ

There are many things that can cause us to feel stripped. Sometimes that stripping can be abrupt and unexpected, while other times it can be through gradual yet consistent situations which ultimately leave us naked and hurt. Like pulling on a thread little by little until you realize there’s a big, open gap revealing your nakedness.

Some examples of things that leave us feeling stripped could be:

• Abandonment
• Rejection
• Theft, fraud, scams
• Physical harm, assault, aggression
• Harm or murder of a loved one
• Sexual trafficking, abuse, rape, incest
• Kidnapping
• Forced labor
• Religious abuse
• Slander
• Estrangement from loved ones
• Emotional abuse
• Infidelity
• Betrayal

Whatever the case, it is something that is done to you. Not something that you chose, rather something out of your control, forced on your life, and which changed the trajectory of where you were headed.

The hopes or dreams you once envisioned disappeared, but I am confident that God wants to bring you out of that cistern healed, whole, and free to walk into a destiny that submits only to Him.

Joseph’s brothers boasted, “Let’s see what happens to those dreams of his now!” However, nothing, no matter how hard, can stand in the way of God’s promises. We are the only ones that can stop the fulfillment of the purposes and dreams He has for us. While many of us self-sabotage with our decisions, no one will ever thwart His purposes in the world or the promises He’s made.

THE CISTERN

The only detail we have about the cistern is that it was empty. Nonetheless, we can infer it was deep, otherwise Joseph could have gotten out on his own. Thrown into a deep, waterless hole, it’s likely he sustained multiple bruises, and possibly fractures, on his way down.

Joseph must have had a thousand questions in the pit: Is this really happening? What are they planning? They wouldn’t actually leave me here, would they? Later in the story the writer reveals that Joseph pleaded with his brothers to help him, but they ignored his cries, going as far as enjoying a meal while he begged for mercy from the pit.

Deep distress, anguished pleas that fell on hardened hearts. The cistern represents the moment right after the stripping; the torment and shock of being thrown into a pit that seems like a terrible nightmare. One minute you were on your way to a beautiful destiny, favored and confident in your worth, and the next you were in a deep, dark, dry pit, uncertain of the love of those close to you, uncertain of your future, and too hurt to make your way out.

Joseph’s cistern lasted merely a few hours, but emotional cisterns can be periods of shock, grief, brokenness, confusion, and despair that last months or years.

When these things happen to us, especially if we serve Jesus, it’s easy to question God, our faith, and even our existence. Isn’t God supposed to be for me? Didn’t He promise to deliver me from my enemies and that goodness and mercy would follow me all my days? Why would a loving Father allow this much suffering? Is there any purpose in me living? Valid and genuine questions a broken, disappointed, hurt, and disillusioned spirit ponders from the depths of an empty cistern. God was working in my heart, but the questions and complaints were only natural.

Empty cisterns are also lonely cisterns. Even if you have friends who listen and pray with you, ultimately, you are the only one that knows what it feels like to be in your place.

In the cistern, we need friends who listen, pray, and compassionately remind you of Scriptures when you can’t remember them on your own. Friends who understand our human nature and are not offended by our questions or sorrow. Friends who know that Jesus understands and meets us in our place of brokenness... just as we are. Friends who break through obstacles and carry us to the presence of Jesus when we are paralyzed, unable to move (see Mark 2).

People who haven’t gone through crisis often don’t know how to comfort those in anguish, or expect them to simply “have faith” without understanding precisely how difficult it is to have faith in the middle of the storm! Remember the story of the disciples on the boat during a terrible storm? These men walked and lived with Jesus daily. They literally had Jesus with them in the boat, asleep but present, and even they despaired and questioned the Master. “Teacher! Don’t you care that we’re going to die?” (Mark 4:38 CSB).

Some might argue that believers shouldn’t struggle with those questions, but there are multiple examples in Scripture of how God responds to pain, depression, and doubt or unbelief. If we can’t take our questions and pain to God, who then could we turn to? However, if left to our own reasoning and understanding, some questions could lead to deeper anguish, bitterness, anger, and ultimately, the abandonment of our faith, causing us to turn our backs to the God who loves us, but that we slowly begin to doubt exists anymore.

It is imperative to seek God’s truth and try to understand His ways; our entire earthly lives and our eternity depend on it! These questions are too important to leave unaddressed. Too important to ignore in an attempt to perfect the art of masquerading our struggles and suppressing pain as we can, going through life in survival mode, instead of thriving and growing.

What God revealed to me through Joseph was powerful and transformative. The process took many years, but turned into such a blessing that I was able to grow, heal, and accept that I didn’t need to have all the answers in order to trust my heavenly Father again. He was patient with me, loving, protective, jealous for me, merciful, tender, and closer than I had ever felt Him before.