Welcome to The Well Part II - Missed Part I ? - Say less.
The Well
I relate so much to the woman at the well. It captures one of my favourite traits about God in one of His names ‘El Roi’ - The God who sees. Not see as in just looking through His eyes, but it means to behold, to consider. It implies intentionality and focus, nurture and commitment.
So this happened next ..
Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.” ( John 4 : 16 - 19 NKJV ).
Identity
It’s just like God, we see our sin, He sees us. He addressed the root of her shame and the reason she may have been ostracized by her community. He brings it to the surface, to light. He reveals in order to redeem.
I remember being at the end of my self, at the end of my humanness and I needed God to intervene. I was drowning but I told God, if you could just help me get sober, I could handle the rest. I knew He could do it, He did it before. I identified my addiction as THE problem in my life. It wasn’t.
My problem, in part, rested in the fact that I was walking in an identity He did not give me and I had the scars and shame to prove it. This, i didn’t realize of course, until I got sober. Until He brought light to it.
One day i lay on my bed staring at the ceiling, my mind the soberest it had been in years, I asked my self, “If you’re not smoking weed, “snatching souls” - Who are you? and I had no answer. I still get teary eyed to think of the girl I was, the girl that defined her self by her sin.
For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God ( Romans 8 : 15 - 16 NKJV ).
I was adopted. She was adopted. You are adopted. I was given a new identity, one rooted in unshakeable truth, not rooted from brokenness.
For you died [to this world], and your [new, real] life is hidden with Christ in God. ( Colossians 3 : 3 AMP)
Worship
The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father.
You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
It is easy for us to get caught up in the rituals associated with our faith. We know we should pray, read the word, all the things, but we are called to worship in spirit and truth. With less of a focus on the external but an intentially inward focus. To worship in the part of us that is connected to God. Our spirit.
But, what does in truth mean?
It means our worship should be rooted in and stem from our identity as children of a sovereign God, bearing in mind who God is and what He has done. The atonement of our sins that has purchased for us abundant grace, an inheritance and eternal life.
So the next time you lift your hands, or close your eyes in reverence, whether it’s Hillsong, Annatoria, Elevation or a church hymn in the backgroud, remember, not just who you are but who you are in light of who He is.
That as dustyy and messy as you are, He thought earth would be incomplete without you here so much so that He gave His life for you to walk in the fullness of all He created you to be, see and achieve.
Revelation and Overflow of Living Water
The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”
The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did, could this be the Christ ? ( John 4 : 25 - 26, 27 - 29 NKJV )
It’s interesting that she said he told her everything she ever did, because, He didn’t. He spokeon an aspect of her life, but in her mind, it was more than that. Her shame consumed her and informed how she interpreted other persons perceptions of her.
With that being said, what was it that really sent her running? My sis, threw her water pot to the ground, ruffled up her skirt in hand and sprinted faster than Usain Bolt towards the very people that condemned and ostrasized her. “Come see a man..”
It was the revelation of God. That is what changed everything. The light of Christ, removed the darkness of shame. It goes beyond Him just telling her that He was the Messiah. He met her where she was, beyond the physical place, without judgement confronted her shame with love and offered her himself.
God cannot heal the things you hide, or restore you as you hide. Bring it to light and to The Light. That looks like, talking to Him about it, telling a praying friend you’ve been struggling or simply admitting to yourself that you may have a problem, a God shaped hole.
Going through the motions doesn’t please You, a flawless performance is nothing to You. I learned God-worship when my pride was shattered. Heart-shattered lives ready for love don’t for a moment escape God’s notice. ( Psalm 51:17 MSG )
In The End..
And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all that I ever did.” And many more believed because of His own word.
Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.” ( John 4 : 39, 41-42 NKJV ).
The power of a testimony outside of helping you to overcome is that it points others to Jesus, every time you share something God did for you, helped you through or helped you overcome you plant a seed. A seed He waters, that grows in due season.
Due season often seems like never, lets be real. When you are praying for the salvation of an loved one, transformation of a spouse or family member, particularly when you’re sprinkling seeds like Salt Bae.
Truth is, it’s not up to just you. Here’s a new prayer point - Lord, give them an encounter with You, one they cannot deny. Give them a revelation of who You are. As much as our good sis testified, people believed because they heard Him themselves.
Sometimes my love, they may need to feel Him, fall flat on their face and for Him to pick them up. Or maybe they need to truly be seen on a intimate level by the only one who will see them with eyes of love, void of judgement. The only one who can save them.
Regardless, keep praying, keep planting.
Homework
Remember who and whose you are and worship from that place and if you, yourself need an encounter or a fresh revelation from the one who loves you most, meet Him at the Well, there’s living water there.
For His Glory,
Raynya from The Narrow Path
Just a girl walking a path and writing about it authentically.
Walk with me ?
Wow! Thank you for this sister💕 Thank you for the reminder of our Saviour. “He reveals in order to redeem.” That was such a good point! I need to ask for the Light and stay there. Also, thanks for the suggestion of prayer. I’ve prayed before for God to have encounters with those who are lost. After reading your prayer, it gave me more emphasis. I appreciate it!
This was such a great read. I’ve been having conversations with God about some of my habits that I need to let go off. I know it’s a journey. I’m grateful for His mercy when I fall and the grace and love He gives me when He’s picking me back up.