The Transformative Encounter of the Woman at the Well

Are you feeling parched?

Like excessively thirsty. A withering plant in need of rain.

I wonder if that’s how the woman at the well felt. Dried up, used, exhausted by life, by the countless times love had failed her.

Anyone else?

How often do you return to the well?

As a recovering achievement addict who still relapses occasionally, and a people pleaser trying to live in the world but not be of it, needing God’s love drives me back to the well often. 

Each time I study the “woman at the well,” something new strikes me.  

Like how Jesus met her exactly where she was, on a day she probably expected to be just another ordinary day, although she may not have been painfully crying out at the well for a savior, I think she was silently doing so.

This is for sure: she was hiding midday like she probably did every day. Most women went to the well during the cooler time of the day. Not midday when it was hot. But not this precious sister. She had a past and probably got those looks of judgment enough to want to hide.

But doesn’t that make the picture of how thirsty her soul was even more beautiful?

Oh, girl, I have been there, exhausted by betrayal yet still wanting desperately to be chosen.

The other extraordinary thing about the day was that it was a divine appointment by God. Jesus said he “had” to go through Samaria (John 4:4,6). Just as odd as it was for a woman to be at the well midday, it would have been unheard of for a Jewish man to have a conversation with a Samaritan woman.

But God, right?

This divine meeting with Jesus, as Gretchen Saffles in The Well-Watered Woman so accurately describes, was an encounter the woman didn’t know she needed but had spent her whole life seeking.

- an encounter the woman didn't know she needed but had spent her whole life seeking.

Again, anyone else?

For far too long, I sought hard after things the world told me would make me happy. Things like money, success, love, or pleasure. When they failed, numbing was a good alternative. That is, until I was so thirsty I thought I might die.

And in perfect timing and in ways only He could, Jesus met me there. Full of love, love I couldn’t comprehend. Full of grace and mercy. Arms wide open. Never condemning or judging.

Jesus didn't ask or expect anything of her that day. He didn't say, "Sit down, let's unpack and process your past or pain." She only needed to believe in Him. Maybe I should say believe Him.

There's a distinction, you see. At times, I feel that trusting Him is more challenging than simply having faith in Him. When we are drained from our efforts, worn out by the world's evils, and fatigued from trying to keep pace... there is a space only HE can fill. That's why going to the well isn't a one-time deal. For most of us, just like the woman at the well, we'll be back tomorrow. Hopefully not hiding, but showing up when all the other women do so we can tell them about HIM.

Dear sister, He will always meet us wherever we are. He is a good God and Father, providing us with one divine encounter after another.

I grabbed the book The Well-Watered Woman because I loved the title. I immediately thought, YES, Lord! I want to be a well-watered woman in a world that leaves us so thirsty. I’m only at the beginning of the book, so I'm excited to share more.

For now, get to that well if you’re thirsty. He will meet you there. Tell Him you want the living water only He can provide. Water to the overflow. I can’t get enough of Jesus. I pray for a flood most days.  

I love you, Beauties.

Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”