Living Water Exodus 17:1-7, John 4:5-42

The power of water.
Everyone needs water to survive. Its no surprise that Moses in Exodus 17:1-17 would have asked God to meet the people's need for water. They believed they needed water to survive. These newly free people of Israel grumbled as they sat out in the desert unsure of how they would survive. They even asked if they came out only to die of thirst. They were tired and thirsty. They had believed in God when they set out, but now they grumbled expressing new found fears in the freedom of the desert.

But the people were very thirsty for water, so they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Was it to kill us, our children, and our farm animals with thirst?” Exodus 17:3 New Century Version Dallas, Word Bibles, 1991.

The people faced real fears out in the freedom of the desert. Death and suffering scared them, just like us. We grow weary and we cry out to God for help. Even in times of plenty we still find reasons to be afraid. We still lose faith and grow hopeless, and still God's provision for our most basic needs is clear even as we doubt and fear.

The power of living water
The Samaritain woman who met Jesus in John 4:5-52 had her own needs and fears when she ventured to the well in the heat of the day. She needed water to survive. Going to the well alone gave her a chance to avoid the people she feared. I believe she feared meeting the other women (and men) of her town. They all needed water from the well; but she didn't want to meet them or be judged by them that day.

Jesus met her and struck up a conversation asking her for water. She was surprised a Jew would have asked her, a Samaritan, for water. Jesus responded by offering her life changing water. She was full of questions about this Living Water. He answered her questions with his own questions. He knew her whole story; he knew her sins and all; and he offered her living water. Maybe this was a chance meeting, maybe it was providence. She left the well that day transformed.

Meeting Jesus is transforming. Meeting Jesus is honest and uncomfortable for us sinners; but in the discomfort of meeting God we find our real hope. He knows us; and he meets us just like the woman at the well. We meet God at an often unexpected hours when we might be most surprised to learn that the maker of heaven and earth is concerned about us. God knows us; and offers us new life not by chance but providentially. Our God is the God of second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and beyond chances. Meeting him like the woman beside the well opens us up to the full power of God to transform our whole lives.