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I’ve read this verse a thousand times. I’ve written about it. I’ve taught on it. But today as I was reading the final days of Christ’s life on earth I was hit by a new truth. Okay, new only in the sense of perspective.
Jesus promises to be with us. ALWAYS.
- With us when we are under attack;
- With us when we struggle with finances;
- With us when illness attacks our bodies or the bodies of loved ones;
- With us when we struggle with addictions;
- With us in through divorce;
- With us when we did that sin…again:
- With us when we feel lonely and rejected;
- With us in the storms of life;
- Add your struggle here…
The thing is, this phrase is stuck at the end of what is commonly called the Great Commission but it’s truth goes far beyond evangelism. It’s a lifestyle. He doesn’t promise to remove the hard times. He does promise to walk with us along the way.
What’s your struggle today. Jesus is with you whether you feel him or not.
She was lonely. She most likely had a real problem with self-image and commitment. She’d learned something about men and relationships through the years: they don’t last. Men used women and tossed them away like an old sock.
That’s why she found herself at the well at midday. Her plan worked most days. There was no one at the well. But not today. Today, of all things, a man was there. This time was different. This man was different. He didn’t judge her event though he knew her deepest secrets. He didn’t get caught up in the arguments that she’d learned to use to alienate others. Instead he offered her life!
The world seeks for satisfaction in the physical. When Jesus fed 5,000 men that day on the mountain, the Bible says they were filled….satisfied…content…perhaps uneasily comfortable like I am after Thanksgiving dinner.
But once the food wore off they sought Jesus for more. Not more of Jesus, not more of the spiritual food he offered, but of physical comfort. Many were disappointed when he explained to them that the food he offered was food from heaven and not earth. They were more interested in the temporal filling rather than the eternal fulfillment Jesus had to offer.
You can find temporary comfort in many things. Relationships. Money. Status. Friendships. Entertainment. The list goes on. But nothing satisfies like Jesus.
In our humanity we often tend to think God only uses those who have their act together. We look for pastors and church leaders that have squeaky clean records, are financially stable and have 15 children, all of whom are on the ‘A Honor Roll’ and in the ‘Who’s Who of American Scholars’.
Especially in our culture that is harder and harder to find, or maybe it’s always been harder to find now that I think about it. Looking back in Biblical history, few, if any of the ‘great men of God’ were all that great. The list is made up of murderers, adulterers, cheaters, and those who struggled with mental health issues (to name a few).
We are never expected to ‘clean up our act’ so God can use us. Peter demonstrated amazing faith when he stepped out of a boat during a storm. David chose to go into battle without any armor. Issac followed his dad to the mountain for sacrifice when they had no animal and then allowed his dad to tie him up! The Apostle Paul did some of his best writing strapped to a couple of Roman Guards!
The point is, God seems to use do his best work in people who are at their worst and bless them in the process. With the power of God’s Holy Spirit within us we can plant seeds of love, mercy, forgiveness and grace in those around us. How we react to life’s struggles are an amazing testimony to the God we serve.
When He puts you in a place of struggle keep one hand in his and reach out to someone else that needs to see the way through the darkness and tears. You’ll both be better off!
I’ve often looked at this verse from 2 Corinthians and focused on the beautiful promise of the first half of the verse. NEW creations! Not refurbished. Not remodeled. Not modified. NEW! That’s grace! My loving Heavenly Father took this worthless pile of flesh and made something new. And, might I add, God don’t make no junk!
Then one day, rather somberly, I spent some time on the rest of the story.
“The old life is gone…”
Is it? The question haunted me. Yes, I’m forgiven. The debt of my sin is eternally washed away. On the inside I’m new, but this battle raging inside me continues on. Some days I’m strong and watch the enemy retreat. Some days he wins the battle.
Jesus’ invitation to follow him is no party. Instead of balloons there is hardship; instead of cake, temptation; the ice cream is replaced by worry. That’s when I’m also reminded I was never called to walk this road alone. My strength was never a factor, only my reliance on him.
Paul had a similar struggle he tells about in Romans. He loses with the reminder that only the grace of Jesus will rescue me from the battle. Some days I lose the battle. Some days I win. But in the end the war is won because of the empty tomb!
Father help me to live worthy of this new body. Give me a Holy Spirit power to leave the old behind and dwell in the new!
“I can’t get no satisfaction.”
The song was released in 1965 but the feeling has been around for as long as mankind. It was a lack of satisfaction that gave the Devil the tools needed to tempt Eve. It was the lack of satisfaction that caused the first murder. It was the lack of satisfaction that characterized the lifestyle of the woman at the well. She’d gone through five husbands and didn’t even bother marrying the current guy.
Her visit to the well that day brought the satisfaction she’d longed for her entire life. Water. Not just any water, living water. Not a cup full, but rivers of it flooding forth like an eternal spring.
There is no end to the satisfaction we get through Jesus. There is no fulfillment outside of him. Those who rely on their own strength, their own religion, their own efforts question God’s existence because they are looking for the wrong thing in the wrong place. Their cravings are never satisfied. Their soul constantly cries for more.
When money and ego are the most important thing in your life you will never be satisfied. With Jesus in first place, you will never be in need.
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