This post is long overdue and is a result of something the Lord has been laying on my heart for quite some time now. So often we see and hear people talk about “love” but in today’s society it seems to come up void quite often. We often find ourselves in situations where we are yearning and reaching for someone or something to fill the place in our hearts reserved for love. However, what we sometimes have to learn the hard way, is that nothing can fill our hearts the way that Christ’s love can. This post is inspired by people in my life and conversations I’ve had with friends and strangers about the issues of longing, love, and what that looks like in reality. May you be reminded that as deep as your desires go, and as “thirsty” as you are for a love beyond compare, the Lord is the only One who can fulfill those desires. His living water is the only answer that will not come up empty in the end.
“When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite the truth.” “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you – I am he.”
Oftentimes we read this passage and think about the cultural lines that Jesus crossed when He spoke to the Samaritan woman. However, what we often don’t give thought to is the way that Jesus approached His discussion with her and how He was up front, honest, and transparent with her.
The woman at the well had been married five times and was now living with another man…basically what a lot of people would now say is, she was a whore. Here she is drawing water when Jesus sees the emptiness in her eyes, in her lifestyle, and He knows that He can fulfill her every need, every desire, and every want. He looks at her with LOVE and COMPASSION and asks her if she would like some water that would make her never thirst again. After He offers her this water, and she is eager to have some, he looks at her and brings up her man issues. WOW. Can you imagine the guilt and shame she felt? He then offers her once again Himself, the living water. It is only after she realized how imperfect she was in the presence of a perfect God that she realized how much she needed to be saved from herself.
Relationships cause heartache. I’m assuming you already know that. Maybe you’ve been hurt deeply in a relationship, or maybe you’ve just watched friends of yours or family members get hurt from relationships. Statistics say that 50% of marriages end in divorce. That means that there’s a really high probability that at least 50% of children are growing up in single parent homes, especially considering some were born into single parent homes. If you’re one of those children, you’ve seen the damage and the heartache that can come from damaged relationships.
With 50% of our children growing up with people in their lives who have said “I love you” and then walked out of their life without turning back, it’s no wonder that we’ve lost the meaning of love. So many children, so many girls, are told they are loved, yet that doesn’t stop their dad from cheating on their mom or walking out the door. “I love you” did not stop their mom from picking up the wine bottle and drinking it in it’s entirety by 11am. “I love you” did not make a difference when the boy stood on the baseball field, longing for a reassuring look from his dad saying you’re not going to strike out, you can do this, son! “I love you” didn’t mean daddy was there on prom night to tell her she looked stunningly beautiful and make her date shake in his shoes. Is this pain and absence truly what love means?
As teenagers and young adults, “I love you” has become “have sex with me.” However this is often right before walking out the door, because the “love” had faded. “I love you.” Really? What does that mean? Does that mean he can take advantage of her? Because that’s what it’s meant in the past. Does it mean he can walk out on her? Because it hasn’t stopped anyone up to this point. Does it mean he’s going to support her and be there for her? Because all she hears is the words coming out of his mouth, but his actions are void.
What happens to all this heartache and all this pain? How does the girl who has had every single person that’s told her they loved her walk out on her, move on and trust that love exists? Where do we find the love that puts everything else asunder? Does it exist?
The people who follow Christ say that He loves us. Is it for real? Because many are not really sure what this “love” means. You see, so often we get so caught up in our finite selves and our finite minds that we forget that our God is infinite and more complex than our finite minds can even begin to fathom. Instead, we place our finite experiences and our earthly experiences on an incredible God. We say that our “Heavenly Father” surely can’t love us because our earthly father didn’t. We say that He can’t love us because we’ve had heartache and pain in our lives.
My friend, the type of love you can receive through Christ is unlike any other. This is the living water that Jesus speaks of to the woman at the well. The type of love that can conquer any sin. The type of love who died for you. The type of love that still loves you, no matter what your past shows. The kind of love that is going to love you the same amount, if not more, tomorrow, no matter what you do until then. His love has no bounds. He holds you in his grip on a daily basis, ready and willing for you to come to Him.
We have this living water. And we know from our personal experiences that fooling around with guys and putting our hearts in a blender just causes more heartache in the long run. How awful would it be if we sat idly by while friends and girls around us threw themselves and their hearts around and we say nothing. Should we judge them? Absolutely not. They’re like a Samaritan woman at the well just trying to get a drink of water. But should we offer them some living water and show them some compassion and love? Absolutely.
If you are that friend that is in need of some living water, there is hope for you. Isaiah 61:1 says, “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.”
The Lord longs to fill your heart…allow Him to do so. All He wants is for you to run into His arms, embrace Him, and fall to your knees. He truly loves you more than you can even begin to fathom. All those times you’ve been told “I love you” and it’s turned out void mean absolutely nothing when it comes to your worth in Christ’s eyes. It doesn’t matter how far you’ve wandered or how lost you are…His love remains the same.
You are worthy of His love. Nothing in this world will satisfy you the way that He can and He will, when you allow Him to infiltrate your heart.
What are you waiting for? Let go…unclench your fists…and run to Him. He’s waiting for you.
“Because you are precious and honored in my sight, and I love you.” –God (Isaiah 43:4)
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