“How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!” Psalm 36:7 NASB
Therefore the Samaritan woman said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) John 4:9
The Samaritan woman must have spun around in shock and in fear at the voice of Jesus. Who was this Jew? What was he doing traveling through Samaria and why was he speaking to her? The women of the town, her own people, would hardly speak to her aside from the whispers about her sinful life and the insults she so often took. She avoided people as much as she could, but there was something in this man’s voice that drew her to Him. His simple request for water puzzled her, and yet left her feeling valued in some way. Who was this man?
Jesus was and still is a mystery to many. He came, although He was not what Israel had expected. Their long awaited Messiah, their King had come, but He did not come in His glory and majesty. One might have expected His arrival to be filled with honor, cheering and extravagance, but instead it was filled with the cry of a new born babe, and the only cheering heard came from the barn animals in the stable that night so long ago in Bethlehem. Instead of a prince, He was to be a carpenter’s son, ordinary in every way. Instead of a conqueror, ruling in strength and power, He was a Servant King, guided by love, grace, and humility. Yet there was something about this man. No one could deny the power with which He spoke, or the wisdom with which He taught. Could this man really be the promised Messiah?
Jesus left no doubt in the mind of the outcast woman from Samaria. At first, the woman could not comprehend the message Jesus had come to give her. He used her physical need for water to teach her about the living water of Salvation. Their conversation, which she had begun with an air of hesitation and even disdain, now was leading her to the awareness that this man who spoke to her was different somehow, a prophet she thought, and soon Jesus would reveal to her that she was standing face-to-face with the Messiah Himself. As Jesus would so often do, He used something simple, something ordinary to bring healing and this woman’s testimony caused many to be saved.
Jesus continues to use people and the simple ordinary things of life to bring healing and salvation to his lost and hurting children. As temples of the Holy Spirit of God, we are being used of Jesus in ways we could never begin to understand. It could be as simple as an impression that there is something different about her, or it could be through a powerful God-given ministry. Either way, the Spirit is making an impact on this world through the children of God.
I can’t even begin to imagine what it would be like to stand with my Saviour face-to-face while He brought healing and change to areas of my life I had long since given up on. Although, I do know what it is to have the Spirit of God move through my brothers and sisters in Christ to pour His love into the hardened, beaten down areas of my heart giving them new life. How faithful is our God to come meet us in our own Samarias and give us not what we think we need, but what our spirits desire most ~ to be made whole. His loving-kindness, the tender devoted love of our Father, comes to us through our spirits within or through other believers, and does the healing work only He can do.
This past week, I had one of these moments at the well with my God. It was an ordinary moment, but I knew I would never be the same. It was actually one of many of these types of moments in recent days, as God has allowed me the privilege of staying with Christian friends while on vacation. No words can begin to express the many small ways in which the Spirit of God has moved to pour the healing waters of His love into my life this week. Who is this God? I have asked myself over and over, overwhelmed by His goodness. Who is this One who brings healing to wounds so deep?
It is our Messiah. Our Saviour, our God and Servant King. It is He who saves, it is He who heals, and it is He who is the One who makes us whole.
“How precious is your loving kindness, Oh God!” Psalm 36:7