About the author: Amy Hickman is the Lead Pastor’s wife at LifeSong Church in Lyman, a church that she and her husband, Jeff, planted in their living room back in 2008, as well as leader of Elevate, a community for women at LifeSong, and in the surrounding area. Her passion is that EVERY woman know that she is WELCOMED, KNOWN, LOVED & ENOUGH through Jesus Christ. Amy is the mom of four daughters, McKenna(18), Bailey(16), Avery(14) and Quinn(9), and considers raising them to be the most real way she has learned how Jesus sees her and loves her. Amy is the big sister to Missy Bryant and Kate Durham, (both FAVOR women at Fairview), and missionary kid from Venezuela, and because of her upbringing COFFEE is her love language, as well as any Spanish food! All in all, her passion is for the whole Church, that they would live like Jesus, love like Jesus and leave what Jesus left behind, and believes when that fire is ignited, there is no stopping the Bride of Christ!
As long as I
can remember, I’ve struggled with insecurity. I can look back at almost every
age and see how it kept me from being myself in front of people, determined
whether or not I would participate in an activity, allowing people to get to
know me, and EVER feel like I was “good enough” at anything. Insecurity has
suffocated me so often that I’ve missed out on really living. Situations may
vary, but my guess is, if you are a woman who is reading this that you, too,
have experienced insecurity in some shape or form. I believe it’s one of Satan’s greatest tools
to cripple us and “con” us into believing that we can offer nothing to the
kingdom of God, and he will WHAM-BAM us with insecurity all day long to render
us ineffective!
One of my
favorite passages in God’s word is found in John 4. If you have spent much time in church, you’ve
probably read it a lot. I’m hoping in writing this, however, there are many of
you reading it for the first time ever, or the first time with fresh eyes to
the power any encounter with Jesus brings into our lives.
Take time to read John 4:1-30. While a lengthy read, let me break
down for you some high points of what is playing out in this passage. A little
background before we begin, in a nutshell, is where we can all easily find
ourselves entrenched… in RELIGION over RELATIONSHIP.
Jesus has
realized that that
the Pharisees were keeping count of the baptisms that he and John performed
(although his disciples, not Jesus, did the actual baptizing). The Pharisees
had allowed themselves to be more caught up in numbers being baptized, rather
than true life-change and a love-motivated life. I want to pick up in verses
4-10, and each place “Jesus” is mentioned, I want you to replace His name with
the synonym of His name, “LOVE”. You see, God (Jesus) is LOVE. Reading this
passage through with that fresh perspective/reminder will maybe change the way
you’ve read this passage before. I want you to see four points in your reading:
I).
Love will find us - v.4-10
{They
had posted the score that LOVE was ahead, turning him and John into rivals in the eyes
of the people. So LOVE left the Judean countryside and went back to Galilee.
4-6 To get there, he had to pass through Samaria. He came into Sychar, a
Samaritan village that bordered the field Jacob had given his son Joseph.
Jacob’s well was still there. LOVE, worn out by the trip, sat down at the
well.} It was noon. 7-8A woman, a Samaritan, came to draw water. LOVE said, “Would you give me a drink of water?” (His disciples had gone to
the village to buy food for lunch.) 9The
Samaritan woman, taken aback, asked, “How come you, a Jew, are asking me, a
Samaritan woman, for a drink?” (Jews in those days wouldn’t be caught dead
talking to Samaritans.)10 LOVE answered, “If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be
asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water.”
I
don’t know about you, but I’ve searched for love in many places, tried to
manufacture it on my own, and been controlled by my need for it...so much so,
that I’ve missed it when it’s staring me right in the face. I will never forget
a friend of mine telling me to let my walls down and allow people to offer love
to me, and know they really mean it. I believe her exact words were, “When will
you ever trust that when others offer to help you or be there for you, that
they really mean it? Let them LOVE you!” In seeing the Samaritan woman here at
the well, this is exactly where she was. Jews didn’t associate with Samaritans,
but here was someone offering her the most love she could ever imagine - in the
form of asking for a drink of water, no less.
II.
Love does - read v. 11-14, focusing on 13 & 14
LOVE said, “Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again.
Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst—not ever. The water I give
will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life.”
Author
Bob Goff says, “It will be our love,
not our opinions, that will be our greatest contribution to the world.” Our best example on how to love in a
world overrun with opinions, hate, self-righteousness, etc., will ALWAYS be
JESUS. Why? We see it here in these verses. As long as the aforementioned
things above exist, our supply of love must be endless, and must be that for
which we are known.
III.
LOVE LOVES ANYWAY - v.15-23
15The woman said, “Sir, give me this water so I won’t ever get thirsty,
won’t ever have to come back to this well again!” 16He said, “Go call your husband and then come back.” 17-18“I have no husband,” she said. “That’s nicely put: ‘I have no husband.’
You’ve had five husbands, and the man you’re living with now isn’t even your
husband. You spoke the truth there, sure enough.” 19-20“Oh, so you’re a prophet! Well, tell me this: Our ancestors worshiped
God at this mountain, but you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place for
worship, right?” 21-23“Believe me, woman, the time is coming
when you Samaritans will worship the Father neither here at this mountain nor
there in Jerusalem. You worship guessing in the dark; we Jews worship in the
clear light of day. God’s way of salvation is made available through the Jews.
But the time is coming—it has, in fact, come—when what you’re called will not
matter and where you go to worship will not matter.}
We
women are notorious hiders. I know a thing or two about this. It rooted itself
down deep in my own insecurity as I spent many years believing I needed to hide
it from others. I mean, if people REALLY
knew us, they would probably judge us or shun us, right? Look at what LOVE
(Jesus) shows us in these verses...HE ALREADY KNOWS EVERYTHING ABOUT US! That
is either a relief to you, or hard to swallow. Trust me, the Samaritan woman
was not too keen on Jesus knowing everything about her, but Jesus showed her
truth and love at the same time! That is AWESOME! Jesus accepts us just as we
are so we NEED Him to change us!
IV. LOVE DOESN’T
ALWAYS HAVE THE RIGHT ANSWERS, BUT LOVE IS ALWAYS RIGHT. V. 23-26
23-24“It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your
worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of
people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly
themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those
who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true
selves, in adoration.” 25The woman said, “I don’t know about that.
I do know that the Messiah is coming. When he arrives, we’ll get the whole
story.” 26“I am he,” said LOVE. “You don’t have to wait any longer or look any further.”27 Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked. They couldn’t believe
he was talking with that kind of a woman. No one said what they were all
thinking, but their faces showed it.
We
see it here, all the uncertainties in how to love well, played out in the minds
of the disciples. When we can love the unlovable, that’s truly when we “get”
what Jesus is all about!
I
love how the story ends. It’s a good ending, and don’t we all like a happy
ending? It’s good because Jesus showed a life that was uncertain, yes,
insecure, too, feeling unworthy and useless, and he showed her just how He
could use a life changed by Jesus!
Read
this with me...28-30The woman took the hint and left. In her
confusion she left her water pot. Back in the village she told the people,
“Come see a man who knew all about the things I did, who knows me inside and
out. Do you think this could be the Messiah?” And they went out to see for
themselves.}
And
this is the kicker, ladies, when you believe God can’t use a life like yours...
30 Many
Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He
told me all that I ever did.”
The
story goes on to say that the Samaritans asked Jesus to stay, and he stayed 2
more days and so many more believed. Wow! Aren’t you glad that Jesus saves,
that He uses us in spite of ourselves, and shows us just what a life solely
dependent on Him can do?! My hope and prayer for you is that you allow a
limitless God to use you limitlessly! Know that we may feel unusable to do
anything great for God, but when we remember these three things:
Live
like Jesus
Love
like Jesus
Leave
what Jesus left behind,
we
will be astounded what He will do in a life utterly changed by Him, for His
glory!
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