In the story of the Samaritan woman at the well when Jesus asks the woman to get him water she responds with surprise. Jesus replies to her confusion, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.”
Do we sometimes miss the point when we talk to God? This woman certainly did, yet I wonder, was there any way she could have known that he was God incarnate sitting there talking to her?
I don’t know the answer to that question, but I do know that I do not want to miss any opportunity that may be presented to me to ask for living water. Fortunately, this story moves in the woman’s favor. Jesus brings what he is saying down to her level and she gets it. Once she gets it, she tells everyone she knows. Pre-Jesus this lady was most likely lonely, she’d been married and divorced and married and divorced again. At the time she’s talking to Jesus she is living with a guy; something that certainly was not done in that time. I wonder why she did that: Was it money and security? Was it affection? Was it purely for survival? Maybe she just kept falling for the wrong guy? Regardless of why, she had some pretty broken patterns in her life, and it seems that she was looking outside of herself to find some sense of completeness.
Since the very beginning humanity has put having our needs filled in our own way before checking to see how God would like to have it done. Seeking the kind of love that could only come from God in the arms of another human is certainly one way we do this. We also look to have these needs fulfilled through possession, power, status, etc.
I don’t want this to be me. I want to recognize God when he’s talking to me, and I want to ensure that the thing I seek most is his love. Right now I’m sitting in my backyard, a dog snuggled up beside me, the sounds of the night all around. I pause and look up to the Heavens attempting to find an answer. It feels just out of reach… Come on, just one magic answer that will make me feel complete in my entirety. No moments of doubt, no seeking outside resources. It’s like, Wham, Bam, Complete Sanctification Ma’am.
This method doesn’t seem to be working out so well, so I will go for plan B (B is for Bible you know):
Ephesians 3:18-19 say, “And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” (NLT, emphasis mine).
Here Paul tells us it is all about experiencing the love of God that will make us complete. This, my friends is what I am seeking, what it means to be complete in Christ- and it is something I already have.
(looking back to the heavens)
Why am I looking so hard to find something I already have? Is it possible that I sometimes push away his love so I can attend to those thoughts and habits that are most familiar? Is it that I continually allow lies to invade my heart and overpower that love? Is it that, like the woman at the well, I just don’t get it? I must admit, it would be pretty darn nifty to get up from this patio chair and walk away knowing that I will never doubt myself or feel lonely again. Regardless of what has been, or what will be I have grown a little bit more tonight, sitting on my patio, reading some scripture, writing my blog. I get it, it’s not what I’m doing, but his love that makes me complete.
Written 4/17/11
Cary, I've been living these words lately: Be Still and Know that I Am God. I don't know if they will help you, but it's meant everything to me these last few months. Really focus on what this means. He's there - in the silence. He wants to work, wants to move, but sometimes I think we try to "help" Him out a little too much. Peace, Be Still. Please, Be Still. And Know that I Am God. (It's a song, you know...)
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