The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?” John 4:28-29 NLT
Jesus met a woman at a well one day. It wasn’t an accident – He planned His trip through the town of Samaria where He knew He would find her. She was anxiety-ridden. She had been married five times and was currently living with a man to whom she was not married. We don’t know all the background of her story. Was she divorced every time? Had she been unable to have children and therefore not a worthy wife? Was she widowed? Whatever happened, there was plenty of hurt, shame, and rejection to mess with her mind from things done to her and her own poor choices. The man she was with now was not even her husband. She had no security.
There was enough about her situation not only to make her feel shame, but it pulled the trigger on her anxieties. She knew she was the target of gossip far too often, and that the ladies in town would shun her when their paths crossed. She tried to minimize that chance by avoiding places and times where they would have a chance to devalue her again. So, she went to the well alone in the hottest part of the day. No one would be there.
Except Jesus. He walks into any situation comfortably, knowing that there is not a place or person on the earth He can’t handle. That’s a unique and wonderful thing about Jesus. The places, times, the hotspots others shy away from are not even a whispered threat to Him. He began the conversation by noticing her respectfully and with kindness. She didn’t know what to think but she was intrigued that a 1) man who typically condescended to women, 2) a Jewish man who was expected to consider Samaritans like her beneath Him spoke to her as if He saw intelligence and worth in her. He didn’t want any of the subservient or lustful things she expected from men. He wanted a conversation and listened deeply to what she had to say.
That was amazing enough. Her anxiety gave way to consuming curiosity as the conversation shifted to spiritual things. He kindly identified the most shameful thing about her without flinching or condemning. She said she was looking forward to the day the Messiah would come. To her utter amazement, He told her plainly, “I am the Messiah!” We don’t know the rest of that conversation that continued until the disciples arrived back from their trip to the village. But we do know that she accepted the reality of her situation as He knew it, she put her faith in Him, and her anxiety began to dissipate. She ran back to her village and declared to the critical people who were central to her anxious life that she had met the Messiah, the One who “told me everything I ever did!” They believed her and ran to meet Him too. The first choice in defeating anxiety is sitting with Jesus as He helps us define reality, accepting it, and working with Him.
- Jesus, show me reality and help me choose to accept it hopefully as I work with You.