Lessons from John 4: Trust in the Lord
Who is it in your life that needs to hear and know about Jesus Christ? Won’t you, like the woman at the well, surrender your will to Jesus? Will you go and tell others of all that He has done for you? Invite them to come and see for themselves? Invite them to your church?
Do whatever God lays on your heart and leave the rest up to Him. Jesus is the only one who will ever be able to meet your needs and care for you in the way that He desires. Others will always fail you, but Jesus never will.
He satisfies our deepest longings and He provides us with true love that others cannot. His love should compel us to tell others about Him too!
The woman came to the well for water only, but instead she met Jesus. He spoke to her and gave her the water of life. It was a gift that she had never have dreamed of, but one that satisfied her most important thirst–her thirst for God–bringing her complete satisfaction, contentment, and joy.
Imagine with me for a minute, if you will, that you have just purchased a piece of property upon which you are going to build a house. There is water on the property. If the water was in a well it would give you no problem. You could simply fill the well with dirt and level the ground around the space desired for your new home and the well would simply disappear. It would never give you trouble again.
However, if the source was a spring and you tried to throw some dirt over it, it might appear to be gone for a while. But later on, you would come back and you would find the spring welling up, having simply pushed its way to the surface again. A spring would seep through anything you tried to put over it.
Spring of Life
Jesus promises anyone who repents of their sin and confesses faith in Jesus Christ that He will place a spring of life within them. This spring is free, joyous, and eternal. But He is also warning you that you will never be able to bulldoze anything over it!
We try, of course. We allow dissatisfaction to draw us to things and people. These can be good, but not when they get in the way of our relationship with Christ. When we put these things before Him, we stifle His presence and activity in and through our lives.
Some people are glad to be saved but still don’t want to heed God’s direction. They follow their own path for life. But just like the water seeps up, no matter what we throw over Christ in our lives, He is still going to surface and push through.
Now let’s think again for a moment. What happens when a spring comes bubbling up through dirt?
The answer: It produces muddy water.
Is it the spring’s fault? No! The fault lies in the dirt that has been pushed on top of it. This dirt is like our sin. It muddies up our lives and our witness for Christ!
Does this describe you? Are you a Christian who has run from God? Are you trying to cover up His presence, only to discover your life filled with the muddy waters of dissatisfaction and emptiness? If this does describe you, why don’t you allow the Lord Jesus Christ to remove the dirt and purify the spring of His life within you?
Let me warn you that you cannot go your own way indefinitely.
Oh, you may try, but you will not be able to get away with it forever. God must be true to His character. And God says that in His holiness He is determined to perfect the image of His Son that dwells within you.
If God were to allow you to go any way you wanted and make a success of it, then He would be a liar when He says that Jesus Christ is the only way, the only truth and the only life. God is not a liar and He will not be mocked by our poor attempts to fill our own spring or cover His up with imitations. So He will allow you to make a mess of your life until you come to the point where you will let Him perfect that work in you that He began when you first believed!
If this is you, won’t you yield to His Spirit and let Him clear the dirt of sin and condemnation that goes along with it? Will you allow Him to satisfy your soul with the truth of His Word by the power of His Spirit? What will it be–your way or His?
It’s your choice, right now. Better to give it up than to have Him take it away as He sees fit!
Paraphrasing Jeremiah 17:7-8: Blessed is the woman who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. She will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. She will not fear when the heat comes; her leaves will always be green. She will not worry in times of drought and she will never fail to bear fruit for the Lord!
Terri Hamman
Faith & Fitness Coach