John 4:15-20
“The woman said, ‘Sir, give me this water so I won’t ever get thirsty, won’t ever have to come back to this well again!’ He said, ‘Go call your husband and then come back.’ - ’I have no husband,’ she said. ‘That’s nicely put: ‘I have no husband.’ You’ve had five husbands, and the man you’re living with now isn’t even your husband. You spoke the truth there, sure enough.’ - ’Oh, so you’re a prophet! Well, tell me this: Our ancestors worshiped God at this mountain, but you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place for worship, right?’”
“ ‘Please, sir,’ the woman said, ‘give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.’ ‘Go and get your husband,’ Jesus told her. ‘I don’t have a husband,’ the woman replied. Jesus said, ‘You’re right! You don’t have a husband— for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!’ ‘Sir,’ the woman said, ‘you must be a prophet. So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?’”
Here we see how much this woman is one of us. Ask God for help. Ignore his convicting finger on our problem/disobedience. Mis-direct the conversation to irrelevancy. Her words are so very human. God wants to be personal. We prefer distance, especially when the problem is our own, and we look for another to blame. For a time, he patiently brings us around to truth. If we continually reject his efforts, he turns silent, and we are adrift.
Lord, I’ve done this with you. Forgive me. Change my stubborn heart. Make me honest and malleable. Keep me safe in your embrace.