​4 Lessons for Every Woman at the Well

I'm not going to lie. I have been obsessed with the story about the Samaritan woman. You know…the one about the woman at the well?
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I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I can relate to her; thirsty, alone, having a past that’s more tainted than holy.
I mean, this lady, she just seems smart, yet willing; lonely, yet thirsty for the water that never runs dry. (John 4:7-30)
The other women likely rose early, and went together to get their daily portion of water. Yet, this Samaritan was alone, exposed, and likely in danger, as she goes to fill her bucket all by herself. Still, in her isolation, it is there she meets Jesus.

What I love about Jesus is that He didn’t go around Samaria, like so many others were accustomed to doing. He didn’t claim how her people weren’t Jews, weren’t chosen, or somehow weren’t “good enough”. It was as if He knew this Samaritan woman from the beginning; chose, predestined, and seemed to set himself up to be alone with her at this well. It was as if He could foresee the spiritual fruit coming from this one, simple encounter.

And yet in our culture, it can be so easy to go to anyone or anything else, but Jesus, for our filling. We can seek an endless amount of “help”, when The One we need desperately, has already come looking for us.

And I don’t know about you, but I desperately long to know The One willing to break through cultural norms.
The One already taking steps towards me, the One I’ve needed to make me whole from before I could call out my Father’s name.

Still, I wonder if we are going to be Missional Women, we should follow the four lessons the Samaritan women gives us:

• She didn’t follow the crowd.
• She didn’t stay down trotted, but rose up and walked out to get her own water.
• She acknowledged her sins and yet desperately anticipated the Messiah.
• She didn’t care about what people thought but once converted, evangelized her whole city.

When Jesus encountered the woman at the well, He told her everything she had ever done.

As a result, the Samaritan woman soon learns Jesus was the Chosen One, the Son of God, the long waited for Lord of Creation, standing, speaking, reaching to not just anyone, but her.

And…

• When we get that God isn’t just connecting with those in high-backed chairs in church...
• When we understand, we don’t have to be perfect, flawless, or untainted to earn His favor…
• When we know, He loves us, just as we are…

Something inside us radically changes. We become free to throw up our hands and be all He created us to be.
We don’t care about the approval of other people, the sins that has weighed on us. We don’t give time to the ones that have pulled and pushed, or held us back hatefully…

All we care about is being the outlet for His bubbling-over joy…
Telling others of the truth, letting the whole world know how He has set us free, and that we have found the risen Savior.

I don’t know where you are today. Maybe you are hidden in shame, excluded, isolated, lonely, like the Samaritan woman when she was locked in her own sin… But let me tell you, Jesus isn’t sitting waiting for you to be perfect before He accepts you. He is walking your way and He desperately wants to commune with you.
He has chosen this time and a place where He too can fill you with living water. He is waiting to be everything you need.
Won’t you come join Him at His well, just like the Samaritan, through honest conversation? And then, like the woman of Scripture, we can live lives running and telling the world of all the great things He has done.

We can live giving praise, and evangelizing His heart because once we were lost, but now we are not. And, we need never to be thirsty again.

About Jen

​Though born, raised, and still living only miles from where she grew up, Jen's heart lies in the nations. Jen loves the beautiful tapestry found in the wide diversity of people, different cultures, and all nations.  Jen and her husband have been married twenty years, and have parented fifteen kids and counting; twelve foster, one adopted, and two bios.  Her multi-racial family reflects her passion for unity, desire for faith without walls, and missional mindset to share both the gospel and the power of redemption to a world desperately needing the hope found in Jesus Christ. Jen and her husband have led in a variety of ministries; including prayer, small groups, children's, and women’s.  Jen advocates for the orphan as a board member for the non-profit, A New Song; and loves doing missions work internationally, along with her family.  You can find Jen writing about faith, while challenging her readers at her blog, Rich Faith Rising, as well as at tweeting faith-filled messages @Jen_Avellaneda .  Jen is also on facebook.  ​
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