"When peace like a river attendeth my way. When sorrows like sea billows roll. Whatever my lot Thou hast taught me to say. It is well, it is well with my soul"
-Horatio G. Spafford
There are those times in life when every turn seems to reveal more trouble. One more sleepless night, another bill, more demands, and not enough strength. Sometimes I find for myself that even those things that were once exciting now feel like burdens. Today is one of those days.
It's hard to admit when we're down. Sometimes it's even harder when we try to pick ourselves up. We push through thinking that this is just what life is like. We start surviving rather than living. Our joy is low, maybe even non existent, and we just want to crawl back in bed. I struggle to think that this is the life God wants for me. Could a loving God desire for me to be strung out, overwhelmed, and distraught?
When Jesus walked the earth He had such beautiful encounters with so many individuals. I think about John 4 in particular when He met the Samaritan woman at the well. He chose to go through Samaria where no other Jew wanted to go to meet a mixed up, broken woman, plagued with unhealthy relationships, questioning the things of God, waiting for some help no doubt. At this place of redemption He didn't speak directly to her lifestyle, but to the deepest need of her soul, new life. She needed an overhaul, a makeover, a time to bath her wounds in the river.
She needed living water.
She needed Jesus.
"But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again - ever! In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up within him for eternal life"(John 4:14). Jesus didn't come to her to tell her how awful she was, but to show her His love, the kind of love that forgives freely, restores the lost, and heals the brokenhearted. The kind of love that brings eternal life, and takes away the fear of death.
Jesus didn't just help the woman, but stayed to help her whole town. Just the same the story wasn't just written to record her experience, but to speak to mine, and to yours. We are the extension of the work He did there with her. We now stand in the wake of a river waiting to wash over us.
God knows those days when things are too hard for us. He knows when the alarm clock goes off too early, work doesn't make sense, and we can't figure out what to do next. He knows when we cry, when we're scared about moving, when we lose a loved one, when our health isn't what it should be. He knows and He's waiting to bring us His peace, "Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). Too often when Jesus is waiting for me I turn away and try to survive the storms on my own.
This isn't what Jesus wants for me.
He wants me to be full of joy, peace, and love. Where there is death He wants to see new life. In place of sorrow He wants to see my smile. The God of the Universe wants to see my heart be overwhelmed, but not with burdens and sadness. He wants to see my heart be overwhelmed with the love and life He brings.
On days like today when I am my own kind of Samaritan woman, and I need that touch from Jesus I am so glad to know that He is right there waiting.
Jesus waits for me. He waits for you too.
