Come to the Well
Today is one of my high pain days so I have spent the last couple hours propped up on pillows on the couch studying and listening to the Bible on DVD. I am currently listening to John chapter four which tells the story of Jesus’ meeting with the Samaritan woman. He meets with her beside a well where she had come to draw water. It was late in the day, and she had probably come at this time to avoid the other women in the village since she most likely was not well accepted by them. You can imagine her surprise when Jesus, a Jewish Rabbi, began to speak to her a Samaritan. This was simply not done and to say she was surprised would probably have been an understatement.
They have a very interesting conversation and at one point Jesus told her to go and get her husband. She confesses to Him that she doesn’t have one and Jesus’ reply must have nearly finished this woman off. He told her, “You’re right when you say you have no husband. The fact is you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true” John 4:17. Wow! Talk about someone telling all your business. I can’t help but feel sorry for this woman. I mean, even by today’s standards, five husbands is quite an eyebrow-raising number of husbands. And the man she was living with wasn’t even her husband.
One can only wonder if she had just settled with this one even though he didn’t want to marry her just because she needed a man in her life. Please excuse my frankness but five husbands and a live in lover makes me think she was literally “looking for love in all the wrong places”. She was seeking something or someone to fill an emptiness in her that she could not fill. And apparently it wasn’t working out to well. Hence the reason she was now trying to draw water at the well when no one else would be there. It was at that moment when she least expected that she had an encounter that would completely change her life. She met Jesus where she least expected it.
I can only imagine the hope that ignited in her heart when Jesus revealed to her that He was the source of living water and that He was in fact the Messiah they were expecting. All I know is that it completely transformed this woman. She went from being a woman avoiding people to a woman that went throughout the town inviting people to meet Jesus, the One who “told me everything I ever did.” What had once been a source of pain and shame to her became her testimony of the power of Christ. She willingly shared her story, willingly shared her past so that it would draw others to Him. And it did. The whole town came out to see Jesus and He stayed there for two days.
Many people were brought to Christ and believed in Him because of this woman’s testimony. Because she was willing to share her story for His glory, many more lives were changed. I have to admit that I am in awe of her courage and determination to bring people to Jesus. I think her story struck such a chord with me today because of her willingness to share her brokenness so that Jesus might be glorified. I also identify with her because I know how difficult telling your story can be especially when there are always those who wish to silence you. There are always those who would rather that you keep quiet. There will always be people that are more comfortable in the dark than in the light.
I personally experienced this in my own life when I began sharing my story. Some of the people that should have been most happy for me as Christ set me free actually wished I would be silent and stop telling my story. It hurts when people try to cover up and hide truth rather than expose it to the Light so that healing may begin. That’s why I am so amazed by this unnamed Samaritan woman who so boldly and courageously lay bare all the shame of her past and allowed Christ to use it to transform other lives and bring others to salvation and freedom. “And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free” John 8:32. Truth brings freedom.
I don’t know your story, and I don’t know what load you may be carrying but I do know the Answer. I know the Truth and I know that He can set you free. Jesus can transform your life just as He did the Samaritan woman. Dear heart, He still stands at the well offering Living Water to all who thirst and, my friend, the truth is that we are all thirsty. I don’t know your story but I know that He can use it for His glory. Dear beautiful soul, give it all to Him and let Him use your story to bring others to Him. And if anyone is trying to silence you, beloved do not listen to them. Boldly proclaim what He has done in your life so that you too may draw others to Him.
Never let anyone stop you from speaking truth. Never let anyone stop you from being a witness for Him. Never let fear hold you back from sharing your story for His glory. Never be afraid to tell what He has done in your life. And never let the enemy use anyone or anything to silence your witness. It isn’t always easy but sharing your story can help others who have gone through similar things in their life. Maybe you have never spoken of the shame that keeps you sneaking to the well when no one else is there. Perhaps now is the time to speak up and allow God to bring it into the Light. It is only in the Light that healing can finally occur. My dear step courageously into the Light.
Drink freely from the well of Living Water and allow Him to heal what is hurting you, allow Him to fill the empty places in your heart. There is hope for you, my friend; there is healing for you. I don’t know her name, but I know that if the Samaritan woman could talk to you, she would tell you a few things, my friend. Pull up a chair by the well and listen to the words she would say to you. “My friend,” I believe she would say with a huge smile on her face, “There is nothing in this world that can satisfy the longing in your heart like Jesus can.” Then she would lower her head for a moment as if lost in thought before saying, “I thought no one would ever really love me, but I was wrong.”
She would then look deeply into your eyes and say, “I lived with shame every day. It filled my heart and defined who I was. I thought things would never get any better; I thought this was how my life would always be but I was wrong. I had never been so glad to be wrong.” She might even reach for your hand as she asked you, “Do you know Him? Do you know the peace of knowing you are loved and cherished? Do you know what it feels like to surrender all of your shame, all of your pain to Him?” Her voice would tremble and tears would fill her eyes as she whispered, “It is the most beautiful feeling in the world when you realize that He loves you in spite of it all.”
Before she let you slip away, she would offer one last piece of advice, “Dear One, don’t carry a load you were never meant to carry; lay it at the foot of His cross and let Him carry it for you. Walk away in the freedom He died to give you. Oh child, you are so loved. Let Him love you and heal what is broken.” As she walked away, your heart would ponder all that she had said and wonder if you could do it too. Could you give all to Him and then boldly tell others of the change He had made in your life? I am not the Samaritan woman but I too can tell you that He can fill the empty places. I can tell you that Jesus is far better than five husbands could ever be; He alone can fill the hole in your heart.
Are there any empty places in your heart that you have been trying to fill? Have you been searching for something but could not find it? Are you living with shame you can hardly carry? Or perhaps God may be prompting you to share your story and you have not yet had the courage to do so. Maybe you try to share your story and you face persecution or people trying to silence you. It could be that you are caught in the midst of a battle that is draining your strength and you don’t know how much longer you can keep fighting. My friend, may I offer you a drink of water?
“But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” John 4:14. There is an answer and there is hope. “I have come that they may have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” John 10:10. I don’t know about you, but that abundant life sounds beautiful to me. Come to the well, my friend, come and drink freely of the water He offers. If it is salvation you need, come and drink freely of the Living Waters. If it is refreshment and strength that you need, come and drink from the well. You will find that He has everything that you need, that He is everything that you need!
Katrina Douglas
