My Story Matters: The Samaritan Woman, Part 2

(Jacob's Well in Sychar, Samaria today)

Last week, I skimmed the surface of the story of the woman Jesus met at the well in Sychar, Samaria, oh-so-many-years-ago... 

These were the immediate lesson she'd want us to hear: 

No matter how troubled we are, Jesus hears our cries...and, when the time is right He responds. He arranges a divine appointment with us; and, at the well of our discontent, Jesus shows up... His offer is always to replace that which will never satisfy us with Living Water...  

Secondly, no matter how much shame we carry on our shoulders, He wants to remove it.  He'll take those heavy jars that weigh us down, and remove them, if we're willing to let them go.

Just like we do at times, the woman at the well lived in the "if only's"...

If only I were....

If only I had...

If only I could...

If only I hadn't...

If only___________________ (you fill in the blank).

She thought the "if only's" would equate to happiness, contentment, hope and joy...

What she needed would NEVER BE FOUND in the "if only;" what she needed was the ONE AND ONLY!

Jesus knew what our girl needed.... 

So, Jesus went to Samaria.  

He'll enter your Samaria, too...

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Here's the text from John 4 (verses 13-26) for today:

“Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”

“Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.”

“Go and get your husband,” Jesus told her.

“I don’t have a husband,” the woman replied.

Jesus said, “You’re right! You don’t have a husband— for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!”

“Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet. So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?”

Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews. But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”

The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming—the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

Then Jesus told her, “I AM the Messiah!”

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There was no question, the woman Jesus met at Jacob's Well understood "religion." 

She had all the right answers when it came to this part of the discussion with Jesus. 

Oh, how Jesus longed for her to see that it wasn't religion she needed, but RELATIONSHIP.  

In fact, He still longs for us to see the same...

But, first, our gal needed to be down-right-honest with herself, and honest with the One who could change her "old self" with a "new."

Finally, she broke...at the very moment Jesus requested, “Go call your husband." 

“I have no husband,” she replied.  

Atta girl...as she spoke those words, she found herself at the starting gate to a new life!  

As you'll see, that can be a bit frightening...

Jesus applauded her vulnerability, and spit out the rest of the facts,

“You are 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.”  

Immediately, up came the walls around her soul again, and in a desperate attempt to dodge the subject of her thirsty heart, she digressed to a topic of religious controversy.  

But Jesus, knowing what she was about, masterfully, turned her words around, and brought her to a place where He could look her in the eye, and grant her heart amazing healing, that would fill her right up:  

“You are right, the Messiah is coming, and in fact, I, who speak to you, am he.”  

Yep – here I am, God’s gift.  Look to me, I am the only man who can satisfy your discontented soul. I see you need a boost upwards out of the sinking mire of your own sinful state...  And, I’m about to go to that place of death (in fact, the very same place you’re headed), so you don’t have to...I will do all this for you!

I find great delight in knowing that the first time Jesus opened his mouth to declare His true identity, it was to a woman: a shame-filled, sinful, desperate, unsatisfied woman!  

He treated her with such honor (as He does Every! Single! Soul!)...

Now, then, do you see yourself in this story (for I certainly have!)? 

 

Let me ask you a couple questions, I’ve asked myself: Are you satisfied?  Are you content with your life’s circumstances?  Have you found that place where you are soul-full?  Are you looking to anything else to bring you joy?  Anything else to give you peace?  Anything else to bring you contentment? 

Only Jesus, THE LIVING WATER, can fill every crevice, every nook and cranny of your heart!  

Only the GIFT OF GOD, Jesus, can be for you what you might be looking to others to be, or do.  

So, how do we apply this truth?  

Obviously, it starts as it did for this gal, with authentic honesty. 

Where do I search for my contentment?

The Apostle Paul said it well in Philippians 4, “In every circumstance, I have learned the secret of being content.”  

1)  Contentment is a learned behavior.  Contrary to what we believe, it is not just an emotion I can’t do anything about.  

2) It is found in a secret, a mystery:  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me! Christ in me, the hope of glory! 

Contentment and satisfaction boil down to seeking, knowing, trusting, and submitting to Jesus.  

Sound too simplistic?  Certainly!  But appropriating it is a daily dying to self and re-surrendering... 

Blessed (happy) are those who hunger (and keep on hungering) and thirst (and keep on thirsting) after righteousness (Jesus, the righteous one, who makes us righteous), for they will find soul-satisfaction.

Matthew 5:6