Ever Been Waterboarded?

As an avid criminal-show watcher, one episode in particular stayed with me.

In it, the commander of a special-agent team and one of his crew members are captured by a revolutionary army during an unsanctioned raid to rescue local children outside of U.S. territory. For 2 months, they are held aboard a ship- starved, and cut off from all communication. In one harrowing scene, the crewmate is forced to watch his commander being waterboarded for refusing to give up intel. 

They are eventually rescued, but the real trauma has just begun: reconnecting with ordinary life when you have come so close to death. 

Both men are instructed to see a therapist before returning to duty. Interestingly, the waterboarded agent complied more quickly with the request than the one who was forced to watch.  He tells his partner something very peculiar- yet profound.

‘You have to agree to see the therapist, because you were the one they were trying to break.’

That line stayed with me- because it holds a truth that reaches beyond television and into Christian living.  

So let me ask you: Who are you in that story right now? 

Are you the Christian enduring trials head-on?

Are you the Christian watching a loved one suffer? 

Or, are you part of Heaven’s assignment- tending to the wounded? 

Some days, it feels like all 3 at once. But for the sake of this reflection, choose the one that weighs on you the most.

For me, it’s the second. 

Lately, the impossibilities facing my family members and friends make me feel like that agent handcuffed to a rusty pole, watching them fight for breath. The helplessness is draining and heavy.

In that place, I found myself asking: Where is God in this?

He is the sacrificial Lamb, crucified for the freedom of all. 

He is the Sovereign Ruler over human brokenness and sin. 

And He is the commander of Heaven’s armies; ever watchful, ever near.

Yet, sometimes, ‘the friend who sticks closer than a brother’ seems to be caught up in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the highway- 2 states away. And then suddenly, in the blink of an eye, we find ourselves on the other side of what should have crushed us, standing victorious.

Victory, however, doesn’t always align with our expectations. 

The loved one might still pass away. 

The friend might drift away from salvation. 

The job might still be lost.

The kid might still be rejected from their college of choice. 

Whilst you were the one the enemy was trying to break.

The absence of visible success does not mean the absence of victory. Spiritual wins are often unseen and unrecorded. 

Perhaps the deepest grief to God is not our suffering, but watching us forget that we’ve been given His authority, even as we fall prey to our defeated foe. 

So bring your questions. Bring your pain. Bring your weariness to your Abba. But hold tightly to this truth:

“He will never leave you nor forsake you’ (Hebrews 13:5) 

Righteous living is still required- but abandonment is not part of the equation.

So, I invite you, sister, to hold fast to what He has spoken until your situation aligns with your belief.

XOXO,

Chris