The Woman at the Well - part 2
Before we continue our discussion of the woman at the well, you may want to go back to last week’s blog entry and reread the passage from John chapter four. With those Scriptures now fresh on our hearts, let’s continue our discussion of this interesting, life-changing encounter.
The first very important thing we can glean from this passage is the truth that Jesus knows where we are and exactly what is going on in our lives.
We might think that God does not care about the details of our daily existence, but this story says that Jesus knew exactly where to find this woman. He knew when she would show up at the well. Most of the women in town went to the well after the sun was starting to go down because it was cooler. They would gather at the well and visit, discuss issues, probably gossip, and fill each other in with news of the day. The well was a gathering place for the women, and certainly a place of refreshing.
But here in this specific incident, this Samaritan woman comes all by herself, probably trying to avoid people, and yet looking to get some water to fill her pots. Her past experiences with other women at the well may have been uncomfortable, shaming, or difficult. And so she was coming to get water in the heat of the day . . . and so was Jesus.
Jesus, sitting near the well, was waiting for her. Isn’t this just like the Lord to show up in the heat of the day -- in the middle of the messiness of our daily life?
If you think about it though, wouldn’t you prefer His visits when the "heat" is on? I know I would. I have experienced that tough times make us more open to Him. The hard times encourage us to seek Him and to reach out for help. Jesus knew He would find this woman at the well in the “heat” of her life’s experiences.
Today our wells, or gathering places, might be our homes, the grocery store, the restaurant, the shopping mall, the neighbor’s Bible study, or the church. Wherever we are, Jesus can find us! We might be just like the woman at the well, trying to avoid the public and hoping to escape confrontation of our mistakes and disappointments, and yet yearning in our hearts for peace, deliverance, and freedom.
But it does not matter where we are or where we try to hide. The point is, Jesus knows where we are and He can find us. Maybe we are in a fiery furnace of affliction, suffering under pressure, or facing the heat of circumstances. It’s okay! Jesus knows exactly where we are!
This week let’s meditate on this simple truth: Jesus knows where we are.
What does this mean as we apply this to our lives?
What power is in this truth?
How does this truth make a difference to us, or does it?
Let's think about these things throughout the week and next week we will dig deeper into this story of the woman at the well.
Dr. Sharon Predovich
