The woman at the well has a past. She has had husband after husband. She now is living with a man who is not her husband. Does she carry shame? As she carries her watering jar to the well, what is she really thinking? There are no other women around to talk to. She isn't walking with a friend. But in fact, she walks alone. I think that kind of gives us a glimpse of her life. Her heart. You can almost know she was hurting. She was ready to release the past and the pain. I just imagine her heart fluttered just as mine when she finally accepted Jesus.
They talk, but what I find beautiful is that Jesus isn't condemning. He isn't just listening to her words, but to her heart. There is a difference. When we are in need we don't need a friend to tell us how wrong we are. We need a friend to show us the right way in love. Jesus was her friend at the well.
As deep as this well is, I am sure that is how deep her pain is. Jesus asks for a drink. He shares with her that He is the Living Water. She has to reach down deep. She must drag that water up. This is not an easy task. I see more here in this story than ever before. She must reach down deep and bring up her pain. She must bring it up before she can release it. It is as though we can feel her freedom in this single movement.
Jesus has a reservoir that never runs dry. Once we drink from His cup we never thirst again. Have you ever walked by a cool stream? You can breathe in the freshness. It is as though you can you taste it on your tongue. Just to sit along a flowing stream brings comfort and solace. There is a peace in just the sound that never ceases. The love and forgiveness of Jesus is ever flowing. His love never ceases.
Through some of the toughest trials in life springs up a beauty we never knew possible. If we can only give our pasts to Jesus, we will be able to see Him turn our deepest struggles into shimmers of gold that reach far beyond anything we could imagine. Remember, we have a God who can turn ash into beauty. He has done it for me. He too will do it for you.
As we sit along the shore and look out upon the water, maybe a ripple has begun, we see the sparkle that shines like light casting off light. If we look we can see a reflection. It's there. That tender reflection as if He is looking back at us. Have you seen it? It seems we must let those ripples flow and once they stop it's then we see.
"For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him." John 3:16-17
"He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less." John 3:30
The less there is of me the more there is of Him. Just the same, the more I see of Him, the more He allows me to see of myself. A reflection of Him. He didn't judge this woman in anger. He gently showed her the way to life. He was showing her Living Water through giving her room to release her past so she could fully accept the present with Him.
"I tell you the truth, those who listen to My message and believe in God who sent Me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death to life." John 5:24
We can try to drown our sorrows. But what comes of that? Only more pain. At least for me. I believe when Jesus asked this woman for a drink, He was encouraging her to bring up her past and pass it to Him. As He took her past she could take His future. She drank the Living Water on this day and what did she do next? She went to share. This woman who went to the well alone, now had the courage to let everyone know the special blessings she had uncovered. A ripple that would now touch others and would teach the world to drink from the Fountain of
Life.
