Hey there. I am so glad that you are joining us! You are in the company of hundreds of other women from across the country who together will look deeply into God’s word, and will discover the love of the Father through the encounters of His Son.
In this particular series, we will walk through the encounter of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well outlined in John 4. Each week, we will build on the Truths we discuss the week before. So, invite a girlfriend! There will be no shortage of hope or encouragement here.
It was after noon. The hot sun shone down on her face as the heavy water pot balanced carefully on top of her head. The trip to Jacob’s well was familiar. She had walked it daily usually alone.
Sure, it would have been easier to go in the cool of the morning when all the other women gathered water, but she would rather face the heat. She preferred the blazing sun to the fiery glances and comments of the other women. “She can’t even keep a husband. She has had five, you know. I heard she cannot have children. I heard she is an adulteress. Who would want her anyway? Look at her.”
If they only knew her heart. A heart that had been taught of the coming Messiah. A heart that knew her heritage as a Samaritan would exclude her from His promise, but a heart that looked for Him anyway.
She believed the Messiah would be just one more man to reject her. Just one more man in a long line to say she wasn’t worth keeping. That she wasn’t good enough. And maybe she wasn’t. It was something she was starting to believe herself.
But the life of this Samaritan woman was about to change. The truths that she had believed for so long were about to be re-written. She would not only be accepted by the Messiah, but would be used to advance His Kingdom.
Sometimes the loneliest walks, the most ordinary walks, the ones that we are just sure don’t mean anything are the ones that change lives – our own included.
We were running late for church yesterday. Honestly, I am not entirely sure that we have ever been on time. I wish that was a lie, but I have a list a mile long as to why we cannot make it to church on time.
We couldn’t find socks…. Or shoes. We spilled breakfast… wouldn’t eat breakfast… needed a clean shirt after breakfast. We needed to shower and bathe and make ourselves presentable. We needed to iron clothes. We had to gather activities just in case little ones (2 & 4) wouldn’t go to their nursery class. We wanted to play with Legos for five more minutes but really needed to be brushing teeth which led to an event more like giving an orangutan a bath. Difficult.
But we were just preparing for our day. Like the Samaritan woman, we weren’t expecting anything more out of this trip than the million before just like it.
We were putting the empty water pots on our heads and making our way towards the well.
So it is with our daily life.
We head out the door with lists full of things to accomplish. We have plans. We have errands and work and meetings and practices and all of the things that we expect to get done in our day.
But what if today was different? What if today, I had a conversation with Jesus that changed my life?
What if I spent as much time preparing for an encounter with Christ as I did preparing my schedule or my face? What if I went as far as being late for an appointment because my heart was just not where it needed to be if the Lord wanted to use me?
Jesus had already positioned Himself to have a face to face meeting with this woman. He was prepared to meet with her even though it was the farthest thing from her mind that day. Even though she was acting in a way that most wouldn’t. Even though she might not have been the most obvious choice to speak with the King.
As we begin week 1 of this weekly devotional, I want us to consider a few things.
1.) If I encountered Jesus today, would it surprise me? Should it?
2.) Do I have room in my day to meet Jesus face to face wherever that may be?
Father, I thank you for this illustration of your love. I thank you that even when we are sure that our days are ordinary, You give them purpose. In a moment, You can step into our day and change everything. Encourage our hearts today, Lord, to know that You are already in the places that we are going. Help us look for You as we go. It is in Jesus’ name that we ask these things.
Check back next week as we talk a little more about the background of the Samaritan gal, and how her world was turned upside down.
