John 4:27-30, 39-42 WHEN GOD USES A BROKEN PAST
Right after when Jesus told the woman that He is the Messiah and the disciples came back from town, the woman went hurriedly back to her own town. As we discovered in the previous devotion, we saw that the woman could be an outcast from her town. She came to draw water by herself at the hottest time of day. She might be depressed and just wanted to be alone, but we don't know that for sure. Jesus pointed out that she have had five husbands and was currently with a man who is not her husband. And this could have become the reason why she wanted to avoid herself from the eyes of her townsmen. But this also does not necessarily mean true or that the woman was a harlot or an adulteress. It could be a lot of things that caused her to have multiple husbands - divorce, death, infidelity. Whatever it may be, Jesus knew her situation and He had to call her out so that she can give a testimony to her town.
“So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, ‘Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?’ They went out of the town and were coming to Him.”
Immediately without hesitation, the woman left her water jar after she had heard about the Living Water that Jesus offers. She had been going to this well for years. Metaphorically, she has been trying to quench her thirst with things that could not satisfy her. I am assuming that she had been longing for a real kind of love and acceptance from people, perhaps from her husbands or the people from her town. But no one seemed to be good enough. No one seemed to suffice her needs. And I could hear the desperation from her voice when she said, "Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come her to draw water (v. 15)."
Having to feel constant rejection and riddance from people is such a very heavy load to carry around. I recall experiencing these kinds of unpleasant interactions with the people who mattered the most to me from years behind. It was the time when I felt so alone, unwanted, and unseen. But praise be to the Lord for not allowing me to give up and succumb to depression. He made me see that there is a good ending to my story. I only had to believe Him that time that there is a purpose in everything. So I held on to Him and He held me close and tight. Fast forward, I am now where I am in life because I did not let anyone or anything get in the way of my calling to follow the Lord.
Sometimes, we have to go through the worst possible experiences in life so that once we overcome all of it by the grace of God, we can talk about it with others and testify to His goodness.
And this is exactly what the woman did: she came to her town, testified with conviction that Jesus told her all she every did (v. 39), and added many more souls to Christ by sharing her testimony. Most of the time, God uses our broken past to paint a beautiful, hopeful picture for those people who are experiencing the very same thing we did. He does not let any part of our history to come to waste. He wants to salvage everything that we think we've lost in order to use it for His glory. God makes beauty from ashes. He always does.
“So when the Samaritans came to Him, they asked Him to stay with them, and He stayed there two days. And many more believed because of His Word. They said to the woman, ‘IT IS NO LONGER BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU SAID THAT WE BELIEVE, FOR WE HAVE HEARD FOR OURSELVES, AND WE KNOW THAT THIS IS INDEED THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD.”
PRAYER
Dear God, we thank You for all of Your goodness and grace in our lives. We can never even begin to thank You for how You have carried us through all the storms of our broken pasts. You are rebuilding our lives and now You are using us to bring You glory. That is so amazing and utterly humbling! God, help us to forgive those who have hurt us. Release us from our own wrath and let us embrace our calling to sharing the Gospel even to those people who once rejected us. We know that everything in our past happened for a reason. Our shame and unrighteousness are blotted out by the Blood of the Lamb. And now we can talk about our past with full confidence because we know that we are completely forgiven. We praise You Hallelujah, Jesus! In Your Name we pray, Amen!