There’s a story of a Samaritan woman in the Bible, in the book of John 4.

In this story, this Samaritan woman was a lot like some of us today. She was going to get some water from the well, and she was going at a time during the day when it was less ideal, the hottest most inconvenient time of the day.

She needed to avoid the criticism, the critics, the looks and side eyes of the other women who seemed to have held their life together better than she had.

You see, this woman, she was living a hard life.

She was broken, she was not put together, she was looking for love in all the wrong places making a mess everywhere she went. She was discontent, she had a gaping hole in her heart that no matter how many men she put into her life, she could not be satisfied.

She seems angry, bitter, and resentful in her responses in the text. I’m sure she also had that dominating negative self-talk too, telling her she will ‘never be enough,’ that she will always be this way; always will she be unwanted, undeserving…so why even continue to try…

But on this day, she hauled the jars to the well having no idea that Yahweh her Maker orchestrated something different for her on this trip.

On this day, there was a man named Jesus Christ the Nazarene waiting for her there.

Jesus was a Jew, and this woman was a Samaritan.

History tells us that there was a deep cultural and racial divide and hatred among the Jews and the Samaritans.

Nonetheless, Jesus engages her in conversation. He pursues her because Bible scholars say that she was the very reason He even came through this particular town that day…

“He had to go through Samaria on the way.”(emphasis mine)
‭‭John‬ ‭4‬:‭4‬ ‭NLT‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.4.4.NLT

Jesus starts right in to confront the lies in her soul, and calls out all of the hidden activities in life, her choices and behaviors that have landed her as a wife to 5 husbands, ‘not including the one she is living with now.’

Jesus, continues to tell her about how He, the Messiah, the Son of God, is the only Living Water, that only one that can actually satisfy hers, mine, and your souls. Only He can completely resolve insatiable thirst.

Jesus came to town just for her.

He knew she would be there on this day, and it was worth it to Him.

It was worth it to break the rules of their land, worth it to shock the disciples for associating with this culture, this race, much less a woman…

It was worth it to Him because He knows her, in the most intimate form of the word and even still, even knowing all the things we want to keep hidden, He longed for her to know Him and His love to her, for nothing she ever did to deserve it.

He knows her thoughts from afar, He knows her need before she asks, He sees all the lies she’s caught up in and all the hidden pain and hurts she harbors, thinking they could never be healed.

He came out of His way, on purpose, to get to her, on this day.

Let me tell you, my mama friend.

This is your day.

Jesus sent me here to write this for you to hear that He has come for you.

Right where you are, right in the mess, the tragedy, the wrong place at the wrong time, sitting in shame, guilt, bitterness, regret, and self-hatred.

Right where you are, maybe, like I was. Sitting on the front row of the pew, wearing your Sunday best, with a mess in your soul, longing, starved for an encounter with the real Jesus. Starved to know peace and comfort in your heart. Thirsty to be able to truly sing from the purest, most whole place of your being that it really, really is, ‘well with your soul.’

On this day, will you, like the woman at the well, let Jesus at you?

Will you come and see?

Will you dare to let Him save you, cleanse you, heal you, to better than ever before?

Come and see the Man, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who paid it all for you, right now. In this moment, on this day.

All He requires is your “yes.”

“The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?””
‭‭John‬ ‭4‬:‭28‬-‭29‬ ‭NLT‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.4.28-29.NLT

If you’ve never received Jesus as your Lord, as your Savior, you can pray and do this right now, as you sit curled up with this post. If your heart is pounding, if you’re choking back the lump in your throat, if your reading this through tears, that IS the Holy Spirit calling you to receive Jesus right now. Right now. Pray this, talk to God if you mean it. Pray this out loud:

Dear Father,

I recognize that I am separated from You, God who created me because of my sin. I recognize that I am a sinner, and I need your forgiveness. I turn from those sins in my life right now Jesus; I turn from everything I depended on in the world to keep me safe, protected, nourished, provided for, and I turn to You. I tell you with finality that I do not want to continue doing these things that separate me from God. I ask you God to save me, to help me, turn from the ways I’ve been going, and I ask Jesus to become the Lord of my life. I turn to face you Jesus, and I receive your forgiveness, your healing, your peace. Fill in all the places that sin has now been eradicated in me, Holy Spirit, and make me whole. Show me who You are, and show me who I really am now because of Jesus. Thank you, God for saving me today. In Jesus’ name I pray, AMEN.

If you are saved, and you know that Jesus Christ lives in your heart and is your Savior, but you can honestly say that you lack relationship with Jesus; you don’t know how to walk with Him; you don’t hear from Him; you aren’t surrendered to Him; you don’t know how to allow Him to guide your life; you don’t know how to let Him be your Lord; your soul is a mess, and your heart is broken and wounded and you don’t know what to do…I know how you feel.

Maybe you are like me, and you needed the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Maybe you’re also like me in that where I grew up in church, they didn’t teach this… maybe they even taught against it. I guess it will be ultimately up to you to ask God about these things, asking for His guidance and explanations. Why don’t you ask Him to explain it… Because it’s never going to be my words that make you understand to receive, it will be your faith in what the Bible says, what the Holy Spirit whispers to you the things unseen, and your willingness to receive it for yourself, personally.

Directly though, my mama friend, you need to receive the Holy Spirit to experience the fullness of God and to offer Him your surrender. You should get to know Him yourself as He reveals to you His perfect love, that love that will cast out all your fears, give you power, and love, and a sound mind. Give Him access to the deepest parts of you. Even the parts that you think He may never want to see.

This part saved my practical life. And I share about it, a lot. Here are some more writings I have as I began to understand… I hope you’ll allow the Holy Spirit to help you understand, too.