Welcome to this second installment of “People of God’s Spirit!” May the eyes of your understanding be enlightened to know the hope you have in Christ (Eph. 1:18).
So, let’s uncover this hope as we mine for more nuggets from the account of the woman at the well (John 4). We’ll see how she lays down the heaviness of life and finds the freedom she needs to fulfill her destiny. Do you have a heavy load you’re carrying? Read on.
Alone at the Well
Did you notice that this woman was alone at the well? After marrying five times, she was now divorced and living with a man to whom she was not married. Most likely, her story was town gossip. And she sat alone with herself and her life story. The heavy waterpot she carried served as a visual image of the heaviness and weight of her life experiences.
Then, the grace of God—Jesus Christ—appeared to her! She conversed with Jesus sincerely and fully. Her encounter with the Messiah opened her heart and freed her in the Spirit in a way she had never known. Afterward, “the woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, ‘Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?’” Follow closely what happened in John 4:28! She laid down two heavy loads—one was the waterpot, and the other was the heavy load of her life’s pain.
Run Freely Toward Destiny
Boldly, she went into the city that knew her embarrassing life story. To further reveal the profound change that had taken place in her life, the scripture says she went to the men. Yes, she went directly to her place of weakness and hurt—men—and professed Christ. She said to them, “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” (John 4:29). What boldness and victory over her past!
When grace and truth (Jesus) shows up, and we receive the One who has come for us, we will gain strength to move in His call upon our lives.
Pain and the Call
The call on our lives often arises from where we experience great pain! We overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony (Rev. 12:11). Don’t give up! Talk to Jesus as this woman did; ask Him questions; receive His answers; and open your heart to worship Him in spirit and truth. As you move forward in obedience, you will gain victory exactly where your heart has been broken. Allow your heart to sing this well-known hymn: “This is my story. This is my song. Praising my Savior all the day long.”
In each of our lives, Satan desires to jostle us about and sift us as wheat. Jesus told Peter that Satan wanted to do the same to him, but Jesus said He had prayed for Peter: “But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren” (Luke 22:32). The woman at the well did precisely what Jesus instructed Peter to do: She ran to help others! Find your freedom in Christ and help someone else find theirs.
People of the Spirit
Lastly, how do we know this woman encountered Jesus Christ and became a woman of the Spirit? We find a clue in 2 Cor. 3:17: “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” As she encountered Christ and opened her heart to His words, she found liberty! Jesus proclaims, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). What a change occurred for her as she received words full of the Spirit and life.
Along this Spirit-led journey, we will have many life encounters. Some joyful; some not! From these experiences, Christ speaks words of spirit and life to compel us forward. We also have an enemy who speaks words of condemnation to weigh us down. The Apostle Paul reminds us in Romans 8:1 that we are no longer under condemnation if we are in Christ, walking in the Spirit and not in our flesh. My, my! What we can learn from this woman at the well! It’s time to lay down the weights of life, run freely toward our destiny, and tell others the good news of Christ who has changed our lives!
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