I think the Samaritan woman, is such a beautiful Bible story (John 4) and is therefore the source of inspiration for this website.
A broken woman who is ignored by society. People gossiped about her and didn’t want anything to do with her. She had not made very smart choices in her life, and she actually didn’t want anything to do with anyone anymore. She even went to the well in the middle of the day, the hottest part of the day, because she knew that the entire village gets water in the cool of the morning. Not only that, but she didn’t feel like being confronted by people. The less she was in the picture, the less there could be gossip, she thought.
I can imagine that she might also have been disappointed that she saw a Man sitting by the well in the distance. I must honestly admit that I sometimes have moments of “not feeling like confronting people” because I may not be feeling well. Not the best way, I know, but you can have those moments sometimes, right?
She arrives at the well and probably doesn’t want to exchange a word with the strange Jewish Man sitting there, maybe even avoiding eye contact. But that Man started the conversation! What courage, because He is a Jew and she is a Samaritan! They did not talk to each other; they avoided each other. But the unknown Man asks her for water. “Okay. Strange,” she must have thought. He then told her, that He could give her water, and if she drank it, she would never be thirsty again, He claimed.
As I read the story, I could almost hear her thinking, “Why does He talk in riddles?”
When the Man finally says things about her life that no one knows, the penny drops. “You must be the Messiah!” she says. Suddenly all burden and shame falls away from her, there, in that place, and at that moment, her eyes opened, and she knows Who she is looking at!
All her sins, sorrows and shames fall away, and she is immersed in His love!
She runs back to the village, shouting, “Come see a Man! He knows everything about me; he must be Christ!” She even left her water jar behind. It was an image for me that she dropped everything from her hands and left it behind her.
She then candidly told all the people in the village what she had experienced there at the well, which caused many people to come to faith. There, Jesus breaks all the chains that bound her and deals with her past.
Jesus is waiting
Everything about this story touches me, but especially how Jesus waited for her, where she was and in the state she was in; broken, frustrated, and sad. The world turned its back on her, but Jesus did not. He was patiently waiting for her.
How moving, and what an encouragement for us too. We often want to run away from Him out of shame, but that is not what He wants at all.
He chose that day to sit by the well and wait, just as He chose to wait patiently for us to turn to Him, too. Because when we do that, He can show who He really is and what He wants to give us.
No matter what we have been through or what wrong things we have done, Jesus is still waiting for us. He already knows everything about you and your past, and He still wants to talk to you and give you His love and His living water.
And once you accept it, you will not be able to remain silent! And you want to let the whole world know who He is and what He has done for you. Invite Him into your life, and see what He can do!
