A Path Among the Rocks

They said to the woman, “First we believed in Jesus because of what you said, but now we believe because we heard Him for ourselves.  We know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”  John 4:42 (NCV)

I love the story of the Samaritan Woman (John 4:1-42).  There are so many layers to this story and to this woman.  She came to the well in the heat of the day to avoid the crowd–not because she was anti-social, but because she was an outcast.  Shamed and shunned by the community for her life choices.  I think we’ve all been on the receiving end of words that have accomplished more of a tearing down in our hearts than a building up. 

Words are a powerful thing.  For good or for bad.  Perhaps people mean well, and don’t intend to mean harm by the words they speak to you, but sometimes how we receive it feels more like a knife cut more than anything else.  The Bible has a lot to say about what believers should say and how we should use our words. 

Ephesians 4:29 says “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”

Galatians 5:15 says “But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.”

1 Thessalonians 5:11 says “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.”

The Samaritan Woman was not a church goer or a religious person.  The Samaritans were disliked by the Jews, so they were on the fringes of society in that day and time anyway, and she was even more so because of her past. Being an outcast among the outcast is a tough position to be in. But she saved the town. 

With her words.

Jesus freed her, and her first inclination was to share that good news with the people that respected her the least.  Why?  Because the audience doesn’t matter.  The words do.  She was changed!  She was forgiven!  She had a message that she couldn’t keep in.  She didn’t go back to town with a theological sermon.  She went back to town with the truth of her own personal experience with Jesus.  That’s all a testimony really is.  Our moment at the well.

What was your moment at the well with Jesus?  Have you had one recently, or even one at all yet?  If you have, did you feel the same way that she did, saying this man knows me – knows everything about me – even the bad stuff – and He extended His saving grace to me? 

That’s a powerful testimony.

Somebody needs to hear yours and mine today.  People that have yet to accept Christ need to hear it, yes, but believers who are beat down, full of flaming arrows need to hear it as well.  Working our way, trying to find that path among the rocks sometimes doesn’t allow time to even raise our heads, does it?  I think most people are heads down just trying to survive their schedule.  And we lose track of time.  Before you know it, we’ve been heads down spiritually as well for longer than we can remember, and we are sinking in silent despair.   

When I was a kid, my Daddy and I would watch the wrestling show on TV on Saturday mornings after the cartoons were over.  It was the 70’s and these were the days when the wrestlers would have their fake blood packets and would smear it all over their face to fake their injuries.  My Dad would laugh and laugh at that – he thought it was so funny to watch that show.  He would say every week, “they are just pretending” and how silly it was, but we would watch it anyway.  I think we have had too many generations of seeing and hearing folks on TV and in other venues make Christianity into a big business.  With flashing lights and lots of filters, what we are seeing is a great show, but not really real. 

I don’t know about you, but I need that authentic “Jesus helped me right where I am” message and encouragement.   We need to hear the words and see the actions of people that will help us get to our moment at the well with Jesus.  And we need people to be willing to share that authentic, real, no filters, message about what Jesus means to them, so that others who are outcast, downcast or just lost, can find out what it really means to believe in the One who knows everything about them.

I need to remind myself, so I’ll remind you along with me, that we need to continue going back to the well.  Often.  It’s not a one-time trip for any of us, or at least it doesn’t have to be.   I’ll be honest with you; I’ve had some discouraging hours this week.  As I sat down this morning to pray and spend some time with Jesus, I was sad.  Have you ever had those times when words sent your way are just more than your armor can deflect at the moment you receive them?  I’ve had a couple of hours like that this week, so when I sat down at my desk to read my Bible, I certainly wasn’t thinking about writing this post.  I just needed a word of love and soothing from my Savior.  He gave me the story of the woman at the well. 

I can’t imagine the words that she might have received before she made her way to the well, but because she was going to fetch water in the heat of the day in the desert, she was certainly trying to avoid the crowd that went in the early morning to avoid the heat.  Perhaps she had experienced some hours of sadness in her week too.  But she was changed by her encounter with Jesus, and so am I.  I realized that we all need the same thing she received.  A changed perspective.  Jesus gave me that, and I’m grateful for it this morning.  So, here I am writing about that dear lady who went back to the town that shunned her to give them the message that changed their lives for all eternity. Words are a powerful thing.

So, don’t be afraid to speak a word over someone that the Lord puts in your path when the Holy Spirit prompts you to say something.  You never know what they may be going through.  And you never know when the word the Lord has for them, He has ordained to come through you. 

Jesus told his disciples in the story of the woman at the well that He was giving them a harvest that they didn’t plant.  Others worked on that harvest first, and they would be the ones to finish up their work (John 4:37-38).  This teaches us that we all have a part in the path that a person is trying to take among the rocks of this life.  God created us for community.  A royal priesthood, a people of God’s own possession, to proclaim [with our words] the excellencies of Him who called us out of the dark.  (1 Peter 2:9). 

Someone needs to hear what you have to proclaim today.  Don’t be afraid to speak.  You’ll be given the words at just the right time (Luke 12:11-12). 

P.S. If you haven’t been the well in a while, I can promise that Jesus is there, waiting for you – to love on you, encourage you, strengthen you, and change your perspective.

Much love to all those who are heads down hurting today. God’s got you.

PROACTIVE:  Isaiah 43:10 – “You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.

DEFENSIVE:  Luke 12:11-12 – And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

PROMISE:  Isaiah 55:11 – “so shall My word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”