Do I Really Have To Talk To Her?

“Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples.”

Psalm 96:3 (NIV)

As a Women’s Ministry Director, it seems the thing I am hearing more and more is that women feel disconnected, alone, and unseen. After the last two years, I am not surprised. Women are drowning in despair. Each time this is shared with me, the ache in my heart intensifies. I have been in that space, so my understanding and compassion for those that share this is vast.  In hearing this repeatedly, I have been asking the Lord to open my eyes to those that feel unseen, those that are desperate for connection, those that are afraid to share their struggles, for fear of judgment or rejection. 

As followers of Jesus, we must open our eyes wide and our hearts deep. We must see the unseen in the ways that Jesus saw us. We must cross the comfort lines to reach those outside of our comfort zone; those that may not live like us, talk like us, or believe like us.  We have to be about the business of living like Jesus.

Have you ever read about Jesus and the Samaritan woman?  If not, I encourage you to head over to John 4. Jesus broke all social boundaries and religious norms to be with this woman.  She was a woman from a different background, in fact, one that was actually detested by the Jews, yet He saw her as a woman with value. She was a woman who was living in sin, yet He saw her as a woman worth His time. 

Are we doing the same or do we simply surround ourselves with those just like us and hope that those women on the outside will get reached by Jesus somehow, some other way. Are we too busy to see these women who struggle, who don’t live how we think they should live, as a woman worth our time?  Are we loving women well when they bare their souls or expose their hurts and seek out compassion and care from us? Or, are we running away because it is just too much to deal with and we really aren’t comfortable associating with her.  

(By the way, I am talking to myself here and stepping on my own toes.) 

The Samaritan woman was transformed by Jesus by Him simply going out of His way, breaking the barriers of normal and seeing her for who she was and not what her sin was or how she was living.  When we live out love like Jesus, lives will be changed and maybe just maybe this world can be changed! What if we all, who claim to be Jesus followers, step out of comfort and into complex and extend the love of Jesus in ways we never have. When we extend that love, blow people’s minds with who Jesus is, lives will indeed be transformed. When lives are transformed, they in turn will run and tell their people and more lives will be transformed. Did someone say, the Great Commission?

Do you know what the Samaritan woman did with just that one interaction with Jesus? She ran into town to tell others about the Messiah. 

“Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?”

John 4:28-29

Her life was changed so dramatically at that moment, she forgot her own water jar, which was of great importance then. She finally had the living water of Jesus so she really didn’t care. She was more consumed with shouting to the rooftops about her Messiah than anything else. 

Let’s love people so well through the love of our Savior that they forget the material things they were using to fill the voids in their lives. Let’s rally together to break down barriers, fight through assumptions and cancel our comforts to see the hurting, the desperate, the disconnected. 

The love of Jesus can pierce the hardest of hearts and the most starved of souls. Let us be the willing vessels to ignite that change.  

To the one sitting in the dark wondering what tomorrow will look like. 

I see you.

To the one sitting in the dark wondering if anyone will hear you.   

I hear you. 

To the one sitting in the dark wondering if this is all there is. 

I was you. 

But the best news is, Jesus loves you - let me show you how much. 

Practice Because We’re Imperfect

1)    Ask the Lord to open your eyes to someone you can share Him with. 

2)    Ask Him to give you the courage to step out of your comfort zone. 

3)    One of the best books I have ever read: “Irresistible Faith” by Scott Sauls can reignite your faith in ways that are absolutely incredible.