October 16, 2022 – Spirit & Truth > Fear
John 4:4-42 – G. Miller
When looking at our fears, we often fear the things inside us more than we do those external things that get the most attention. Those are the things that can spark us into such anxiety and behavior change. What is going on in your life right now, that would force you to draw water at a well far away from your family or friends at another time of day?
How did it feel watching the Scripture on the screen versus having it read to you? Did you experience this story differently than in the past? Was it a little more alive for you this morning?
Jesus has a way for bringing our vulnerabilities to us in a way that we respond to Him.
While there were other cleaner, safer, and more prestigious routes to Galilee, it was not the one that had been ordained for Jesus to take. Do you have a divine appointment to make? Is God calling you to a Well to visit with someone?
The woman, unnamed because we can put our name there, it does not matter her name, it only matters that the Spirit and Truth of Jesus filled and moved her to action. Where she was once afraid and bothered, she became full and willing, no matter what others might have thought of her.
We are called to walk through the middle of neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, homes, sidelines, bleachers, message boards, chat rooms, Instagram’s, and TikTok and while we are there, we are to BE REAL and not just quickly visit or take a couple of snapshots and disappear. We are to tell the people in the places we find ourselves about Jesus, whom we met at church or wherever and how HE changed our lives because of the water He shared with us. Not what we programmed or created to show others what we are capable of but what God is capable of when we overcome our fears and control
What about us “churched kids”? The ones that are here and have been here our entire lives, every Sunday in our little groups drawing water from this well, chattering about this and that, giving side eyes to those that we wonder about, what about us kids that have been good and stay right on Jesus’s heels? Those disciples walked up at the end with some food for Jesus. Look, Jesus, we brought you food, just like you said! Look, you see me? Which one is greater now?
Why are you here at the well today? Is it because you came to hang with the group, or did you just drift up hoping that no one would be here or talk to? Whatever the reason, are you hearing the Holy Spirit today telling you to call your husband, wife, children, bestie, or enemy, or is he asking you to drop that hurt, habit, or hang-up? You know what it is and guess what? So does he. We cannot hide behind any mask this Halloween or lock ourselves away in our facilities, homes, or even within our hearts and minds. We need to go to town and tell everyone what HE has done for and inside us!
Abraham called God, Jehovah-Jireh, our Provider. Jesus provides for us through Spirit & Truth, the only one able to conquer all our fears. The deepest fears, that if we had to stand up today in front of the church to shout them out, we would run over people getting out of this place. Jireh is not here to do that to us. He is here to sit with us at the Well or wherever and let us know HE knows. He knows us and wants us to grow in Him. To trust Truth and follow the Spirit to change not only our lives but the lives of our villages.
The video used today can be found at https://youtu.be/ordhsDeAt60