What if God allowed you to be stripped? What if…
- …God all0wed your sense of relevance to be taken away or questioned?
- …God allowed your “name” to be diminished among your peers & community?
- …God allowed your sense of purpose to be questioned?
- …God allowed you to be in a position to question your faith & trust in Him in what was happening?
- …God allowed you to be abused and mistreated and abandoned by those who you trusted the most?
- …God allowed you to be stripped of all dignity, all position, all sense of value?
- …God allowed you to cry out to Him, only to answer in silence, prolonging the pain and fear and uncertainty?
What if God allowed you to be stripped?
I guess that would put us in the same shoes as Jesus, wouldn’t it, for we are about to celebrate the birth of God become man…where God the Father allowed all this in the life of His Son on earth. Why? So that I can know Him and be stripped in order to become more like Jesus.
God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun. Romans 8:29-30 (The Message)
Thankful He came. Thankful He allowed Himself to be stripped. Thankful He modeled how to be stripped.
Most people I know who have followed God for a great length of time have endured this. Not the kind of drama that gets resolved in an hour timeslot. Or even the kind you write about as this amazing trial God carried you through, but the kind you really can’t make sense of.
It occurs to me that on the third day when Jesus rose, there wasn’t widespread “hurrah.” Not everyone knew what happened. Word spread slowly–and even then when people heard it they weren’t sure what to believe. What if even after the Holy Spirit came, the disciples didn’t quite get it? Didn’t quite understand why things happened the way they did. After all, they didn’t have New Testaments to hand around to each other. The story was still unfolding.
Can you imagine having no clear path forward? Yet this wonderful Holy Spirit working inside and a trust in the one they had walked with allowed them to go amazing places and do amazing things.
It is nicer when things unfold the way we’ve been taught. “Do good, and good things happen.” In reality, when you truly follow Jesus He can take you places that no one has published guides for. Very little about Christianity is actually “safe for the whole family.” It takes balls and a willingness to walk when you can’t see exactly where you are going. Obedience is always the point. Not reputation. Not sense of purpose. Not a story you can share with your friends to make them believe more strongly. Which is why I think Christian bookstores are so successful. We would much prefer a fill-in-the-blank guide book with all of the answers at the back than this real life of getting over the things that make us feel safe and following Jesus.
Cathy I couldn’t agree more! Two thoughts:
1. Too often I think we put on our “Christian happy faces” instead of realizing its not about the hurt, or whatever the situation is, but rather the process of becoming like Jesus, and 2. Too often we forget that Jesus has experienced the same pain, hurts, rejection..and more! He gets it!
The verses in the post remind me that we are in process – in comfortable AND uncomforable times – of being like Jesus..something pre-planned & allowed by God.
We, as believers, need to authentically engage the process both personally & as community, allowing (as you said!) the Holy Spirit to work.