The Switch Up: Are you holding onto what you THINK you need?

Hi Friends. I went completely M.I.A. last week, but all is well. Unfortunately, I was in a car accident on our scheduled post day and had to spend time at the ER. God is still good, and I’ve taken this time to stay close to Him and to express my gratitude for how He has protected me. In this walk with God, there is no promise that life won’t happen, but we are guaranteed peace and stability during hard times. I am holding onto that promise and will continue to do the work that he has called me to do. Thank you all for reaching out and praying for me when you were filled in on what was going on. I truly appreciate it! That being said, let’s hop back into our series about the woman at the well. If you’ve missed the previous articles for this series I linked them at the bottom of this article. Today, I’m addressing the elephant in the room — the 5 whole husbands. How sis, how? And how does this relate to you and me? More than you think so let’s get into it!

Again, sis had 5 husbands. This revelation has been used against her as a way to depict her need for Jesus as a person who was “loose” and morally flawed. This depiction does not give this story the justice as it deserves. It’s deeper than a woman who was deemed an outcast because of her marital history, status, or sin and Jesus decided to be nice enough to talk to her. It was Jesus stepping in to say I AM the I AM and because of that, I AM all that you need. Let me explain.

During that time and culture, women were unable to divorce a men. Yet, men were able to divorce women because of the slightest reasons. Maybe a man grew tired of his wife, didn’t think her birthmark was attractive, or she couldn’t cook (I would be a goner. LOL) a man could simply divorce the woman. Logically thinking, this woman was either divorced 5 times or widowed. Women relied heavily on marriage to have shelter and to be financially secure. Her only other option would be to live and work as a concubine. I had to have been humiliating and overwhelming to go through the cycle of stability and unsuitability, love and no love 5 time. Unfortunately, her marital attempts failed time and time again and she was living with a man that was not her husband probably just to get by. This is the story and life of the Samaritan woman. A story of survival.

How does this apply to us? Her encounter with Jesus did not change her condition systematically or in the natural, but it spoke volumes spiritually. There are habits, ideas, even people that we hold onto because we believe that specific thing sources or aids our survival. We continue to live our lives attached to these things that fail to bring us true covering, peace and security time and time again. When what we truly desire is something that can truly be a constant peace and foundation. This woman was only trying to survive. People drink alcohol every day to mask what they are going through trying to survive. Some people have to be laying next to someone every night trying to survive. Some of us can’t help but post things on social media for attention to make us feel good enough trying to survive. But it leaves you empty every time. It feels like you have no choice or no other means but Jesus confronts that.

The message here is that Jesus is that constant. Jesus is the foundation of our survival. Everything else is our own attempt to satisfy what we can not. THIS is what makes the Samaritan woman the perfect example for us. Not that she was immoral but, like us, her survival depended on what had proven to be undependable until she met Jesus. When we open up to have a conversation with Jesus he will challenge the faulty areas in our lives like he challenged the Samaritan woman. Jesus was not condemning her he was freeing her. Take a look at this story and read through a new lens. Allow God to challenge you. Place your hope in him. He is our survival.

LINKS:

Commitment Over Comfort

Confrontation