Ready to Run!
February 27, 2019
The woman at the well...the Samaritan woman....the “no name lady” who needed an encounter with the Name Above All Names.
This is the woman who came to my mind while praying the other day. I pulled out my YouVersion App and pulled up John, Chapter 4. If you’ve been around a Bible or in a church any amount of time you probably know her story. I even questioned the Holy Spirit when He told me to look it up. “But I know that one!”
Just in case you don’t, here’s some background. There’s this lady—rejected by the other women in the town because of her past and present choices, going to the well at noon all-by-herself. This is usually something the women did together in the morning when it’s cooler, but not this lady—she’s an outcast so she has to go at a different time than everyone else. You KNOW she’s got to be dealing with insecurities. Maybe I’m imagining her wrong—but who wouldn’t be if they were in her shoes.
We find out later that she’s had five husbands and has given up on marriage all together. Now she’s just living with a guy. We’ve already mentioned she doesn’t have friends. She probably feels lonely, isolated, and rejected. Imagine her list of the 8 roots of insecurity. What would it look like? Where would her checks be and where would her x-es be? Did it take root in her childhood? Was she a teenager who was abused? Was there a dramatic change we are unaware of? Could it be that she experienced a significant loss?
And I wonder what the bottom part of her list would say—the part where she writes down how her insecurity shows up in her life. Would she write about feeling bitter? Maybe even cynical? Afraid to reach out to others? Would she say that she’s given up hope of ever being or doing anything significant in her life—anything worth mentioning.
Of course, we don’t know the answers to any of those questions and we’ve learned that we shouldn’t assume. But there’s one thing we do know—she’s the woman that Jesus went out of His way to reach. Talk about a divine appointment!
I know this story is about the Living Water that Jesus gives and about never thirsting again. But when I read it the other day, here’s some things that jumped out at me:
1. She came to the well carrying all her heavy burdens. Maybe her water jar was a burden—but I also believe there were some past hurts, rejections, and insecurities that she carried as well. I imagine her walk was labored under the weight of it all.
2. Jesus went out of His way to meet with her EVEN THOUGH He knew EVERYTHING about her. In verse 29 she tells the town, “Come see the man who told me everything I ever did!” He valued her more as His treasure than the mistakes she made or the burdens she carried.
3. When she left the well, she left it ALL behind—EVEN her water jar. (John 4:28)—and she left with a run!
4. Her encounter with Jesus had affected her so drastically that an entire town had to come see Him for themselves. The encounter was so life-changing for her, the villagers chose to believe in Jesus based on HER story.
What does this have to do with us? I believe that each one of us are carrying our own unique, various-sized “burdens.” I believe that Jesus has arranged for (I mean moved schedules, heaven and earth for) an encounter with Him for each one of us at JUST THE RIGHT TIME in our lives—right now! He knows that this encounter with Him will be a game-changer for us. JUST THINK of how much He loves you, that He would pursue you so relentlessly! What a Savior!! I also believe that if we allow Him to tell us “everything we ever did” or might need to know about ourselves we would be able to experience what it truly feels like to run—free of those burdens and entanglements that slow us down (Heb. 12:1). Not only did Jesus tell her what He knew—He gave her a solution. I believe He’s gonna give (be) the solution we need, too!
Finally, God is always a God of the bigger picture. Not only is this encounter about you finding freedom and security in Him—there are others JUST LIKE YOU. Perhaps God will use you to run toward them with your story so that they too may experience security and a life-changing encounter in Him.
