Never Invisible
I’m sure she was talked about and avoided and, even though others only speculated about what took place in the four walls of her home, they were pretty confident in their conclusions. She was looked down on, and her lifestyle and choices were godless. Headed to do what she did each day, she walked barefoot down the dusty road for some fresh water, yet she would have an encounter which would change her life forever. She could feel the stares of others, even those of former friends, and she came to get what she needed and leave. Her needs were greater than she was maybe even aware. Her vicious cycle of poor choices made her look desperate, and she was. She was starving for attention, but not the type she was getting. As this woman went for water to fill her need of thirst, Jesus, in His humanness and simultaneous Godness, met her to offer her a drink from an eternal well that would forever be full. He knew her story…every single detail, and it mattered, but primarily because He had the only way to help her story change the direction it was going. You see…until anyone realizes there is a better way to fulfill our needs in this life, it’s difficult to admit or, even see, that we need someone to save us from where we are headed and get those needs met by the only someone who can…Jesus. Without a realization of our desperate need to be rescued, what Jesus has to offer is a hard sell.
My prayer is that we get to that rock bottom place where we are “done” with temporary solutions, which only lead to even more destructive ways, and admit our need which cannot be met because it is much too much for anyone or anything on this earth to make it better.
The woman I was referring to above is a very special lady I have read about my whole life. She is in God’s Word to you and to me. His words meet me where I am, even though years ago I had no idea this is where I would be and that my days would have been as they have. She is referred to as “The Woman at the Well” from the book of John, and she is my very favorite. Our struggles are not the same, but it hasn’t mattered because she is someone I identify with, and this story has saved me many nights.
Jesus…He talked to anyone, no matter who was looking. And I’m sure, after He told her He knew about her 5 husbands and “the man you now have is not your husband,” that she realized this was no ordinary man. So, she accepted what He offered her on that late afternoon. She received His grace, believed in Him, and from then on she would never thirst again.
What makes this story so precious to me is that Jesus knew who she was and offered her what is still offered to you and me today: Himself. Just as He sat with her and had mercy on her, He offers the same to you and me. He addressed her situation of sin, offered her forgiveness, and she accepted and changed. She was one amazing person, and so are you. I may or may not know you personally, but …you are truly amazing. You count and are irreplaceable. But this isn’t my opinion - it’s God’s, and while this is hard for me to internalize about myself, I want so badly to not only take it in, but live in this renewal.
When I am struggling, the last thing I need is help to disappear. I’ve asked God to help me with this because I have become more afraid to live, at times, than I have ever been to die. It takes guts to live. But it takes God to live victorious. After this woman left her meeting with Jesus, I can only imagine the changes in her life which came about. I bet she didn’t care what others thought or if they believed she had really changed because, after all, it was her encounter with Jesus. I haven’t gotten as sick as I’ve been because I hoped for mediocre. I have passion and drive for a life that matters, and when I saw and experienced the reactions of people around me when I did something wrong, or didn’t do something to a certain standard in years past, I began to get lost on what was true about me. So lost.
As I take one step at a time in getting to know the truth about how God truly sees me, through reprogramming my mind to accept the change He provides, it helps when I think about others He has renewed, especially my kindred spirit from this story, from about 2,000 years ago. I think a little less of what others think of me and am a little less overwhelmed. I care, but caring is different than letting this control me. This frees more and more emotional space to become more aware of those who are hurting around me, and I truly believe this is where I get the passionate desire to share and love more deeply.
I love you,
Stacee