The Wells Were Taken. Keep Digging.

When Your Work is Taken, Here’s How You Begin Again

In Genesis 26, Isaac digs a series of wells—only to have them taken from him. Each time he finds water, a source of life in the desert, others come and lay claim to what he has built. So he moves on, and he digs again.

I've always found that story compelling. But lately, it feels personal.

Over the course of my life, I've built wells—organizations, visions, communities—and I've also watched some of those wells be taken through betrayal, burnout, and changing tides. I know the grieving that comes with seeing something you built slip away, and I know the disorientation of realizing your identity was tied to the well.

In The Joy of the Disinherited, I write about identity foreclosure—how we can unconsciously accept roles or definitions of success that were never truly our own. Sometimes, it's not until the well is gone that we begin to see clearly what we lost and who we are without it.

Maybe that's where you find yourself now.

We are in a season where many are losing jobs, titles, and positions they once called home. But like Isaac, we are invited to dig again—not just into the earth, but into ourselves.

Joy, as I describe in the book, is not a fleeting feeling—it's a practice. It's a discipline of remembering who you are, even when the world wants you to forget. And in the stillness, we begin to hear a deeper call: your purpose is not in the well. It's in the digging.

No matter your faith tradition, there is something universally sacred in this story from Genesis 26. It reminds us that resilience isn't passive. It's a choice. To grieve, yes—but also to start again.

So, if you’re standing over a taken well, I invite you to pause. Then, pick up your tools. There’s still water beneath your feet.