Weary.
This reflection was written in response to John 4:1-42
I feel apathetic, disheartened, and disillusioned. I am disappointed in myself and in people around me. None of us can seem to overcome what we have done and said and been to each other. I feel mired in the heaviness of humanity, and specifically my own life. Every action — where I go, what I wear, with whom I speak, what I say, what I eat, where I shop — seems to require so much thought, strategy, and analyzing. I exhaust myself trying to get through each day, each encounter, and each conversation. The pressure feels too great. I am tired of this rat race.
I imagine how the Samaritan woman feels. She is a lowly woman, she is of mixed race, she is looked down upon, and she is likely the town whore. She is on the bottom rung of society.
Theologians have made much about the fact that she comes to the well at noon. The well was a morning social chore. In the cool hours of the early morning the town women would catch up around their “water cooler.” The Samaritan woman is avoiding the company of other women. She is visiting the well at noon, the hottest part of the day, when every one else will be gone. She is finished with interactions. She is marginalized, ostracized, and judged, and she is done with it all. She is simply surviving.
Jesus comes to the well, not to get water, but rather to give this woman life. He takes her from her lonely, self-loathing, abused self, and breathes into her soul a new purpose, a new calling and above all, a new understanding of her value and worth. She receives this good news. The living water that has sprung up inside her is so bubbly that she cannot keep it to herself. She spreads the message so that others will find the living water.
I see myself headed to the well. I am weary. I am lonely. I am done. Ahead, I see Him waiting. He is not rushing toward me; He is letting me come when I am ready. How much longer will I try to do it my way? How much longer will I play by the rules of my culture? How long until I drink in the living water?
8 comments
Bravo Joy! XO, Lisa
I LOVE HOW YOU WROTE THIS!!
We are all as this woman aren’t we. And hopefully we will be as she and run back and share the good news with others. I can see you do. God Bless dear sister from the land of Oz.
you wrote this exactly how I feel….
this is written so perfectly…..exactly how I feel
This is one of my favorite stories to read. Thank- for this today.
Blessings,
Ginger
I identify strongly with the woman at the well, her plight resonates with my very soul–her unconcious and unquenchable thirst for understanding,compassion, intimacy–she wanted to beseen for who she really is rather than just a categroical whore, an opportunity for moral judgement by the supercilliousness, someone to be used.
Jesus immediately sees her soul and receives her in fulness as he would recieve a drink of water after his long journey when he was most parcehd, most vulnerable–he takes her in to his heart rather than his judgement. She feels this in her body where before she has only felt violence and violation. This awakens within her to a new reality, a new truth about herself and those around her. She responds in jubilation and desires to share the new life she has found. In my dark and desperate days when the sun is brightest and hottest, I am drained of energy from the heat of the day, the heat of battle I must return to the shepherd whose voice and prescene will lead me to verdant pastures and flowing rivers as the Psalmist tells and my hope will be renewed.
Hi Joy,
You’ve managed to speak about despair and resignation in a way that personalizes how so many may be feeling at this time. Whether it’s unemployment, a health-related issue, or relationship problems, people feel at a loss. It is precisely in these circumstances that we are encouraged by scripture which says, “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrew 12:2, NKJV)
What you share encourages the reader to not give up by trusting in the Lord.
Don’t we all head to the well at different times of our lives? We let ourselves get too busy, too burdened, too stressed. But Jesus is always waiting. I love what you said. “He’s letting me come when I am ready.”
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