The Samaritan Woman – Sticking It Out
The Lord
reminded me of the Samaritan woman again this morning as we focused on how
living a fully surrendered life to Jesus will cause many to walk away. As the
thoughts of my relationship with my husband came to mind yesterday and the
amount of responsibility of caring for our precious little dog Jesse; I was not
feeling adequate in handling either one very well, while the thought of losing
my relationship with Jesus especially is gut wrenching. But losing my husband
or puppy would be terrible also.
The Samaritan
woman went from one relationship to another. I was reminded this painful
morning about how I went from one relationship to another in my earlier years
when things got tough. I didn’t stick it out when the going got tough!
These verses
in John 6:60-71 hit this matter right where it counts!
John
6:60-71
Therefore
many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying; who
can understand it?” When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained
about this, He said to them, “Does this offend you?
What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? It is
the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to
you are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you who do not believe.”
For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who
would betray Him.
And He
said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can
come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.” From that
time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then
Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to
go away?” But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life.
Also we
have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living
God.” Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is
a devil?” He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would
betray Him, being one of the twelve.
I bolded the
part where Jesus had asked them if they too were going to walk away. The whole
point the Lord was bringing up this morning is that when the going gets tough;
many get going… right out the door in the other direction, that is.
That’s been
my pattern. It has to be dealt with. Today I’m asking the Lord to heal this in
me! When our pastor delivered the ever so powerful message last Saturday
evening, he said that the Lord needs to reopen old wounds so He can heal them.
Honestly, I knew I was in for something along this line in the coming week, but
I had no idea of what that would mean.
As I thought
of these things, I know how true it is. I didn’t realize that it had not been
fully dealt with yet. I knew that as a young teenager, I had developed the
habit of running away from relationships when they didn’t seem to be going well
and things started to seem ‘too hard’.
As I move
into the 6th year of the best marriage to the best man, I have to be
honest and admit to myself that it is not as easy as I has dreamed it would be.
Does that mean there is something wrong with my husband? Absolutely not. For
each marriage I have been involved in contained one common component – me!
When I
couldn’t handle the challenging moments, and every serious relationship has
them, I would simply run away to ease the pain and stress. But things never
seemed to get better. I always kept running into me!
I have been
blessed to be married to and exemplary man of God and he is a blessing to all who
know him. Frankly I was quite surprised that God would give me a man of such
high quality. I never felt I deserved anyone like him. I always went with the
so called “losers” even though in my sight no one is a loser as long as they
are alive. Jesus can touch and heal anyone!
So today, as
I dashed out the door to run appointments for the day, It really sank in that
Jesus is not only asking us if we will walk away from Him, but if we are going
to walk away from yet another relationship or situation just because the going
gets a bit rough.
And my
answer was this…
I refuse
to give up! By the
grace of God, I will press in even when it is not fun. When it seems too hard
to go another step. When the road seems too rough to travel - I refuse to
give up. And for what? More time to myself so I can be with the Lord
without bringing someone else with me?
Oh, how
deceived we can be when we think the grass will be greener in another pasture! If
we can’t handle the grass in the yard we have; what makes us think we can
handle anything else? I was reminded by Holy Spirit that where your heart is,
that’s where your treasure is also. He also reminded me of the verse that says
this…
In all
labor, there is profit…
Proverbs 14:23
So the
question is this: “What means the most to you?”
Are you
willing to surrender IT ALL to Jesus? Are you willing to go the distance
with Him even when it’s hard and the cost to your flesh is high?
These things
are being brought out so they can be healed once and for all. Otherwise the
problem will continue on in an endless spin cycle that will go nowhere but down
to the gates of hell. The Lord wants to heal all that junk way down deep in our
trunk.
I must admit
that it is not easy to bring the world around me into these issues as I look at
my life through the lens of the scriptures, but this is my testimony. The Lord
has brought me through so much. I daily continue to see and learn of better
ways I could do things as Holy Spirit brings things up through visions, dreams,
and His word.
I hear Him
speak through the pastor, through my husband, through friends, through our
sweet puppy, and even through the animals. If we are paying attention and
sensitive to Holy Spirit, we will discover that He is always speaking to us in
one way or another.
The big
question is, “Are we listening?” And, do we really want to be changed
and go the distance with the Lord to fulfill the assignment that He has for our
life. Sometimes we can turn to being busy with other things without waiting on
the Lord long enough to see what He wants to tell us.
If we will
not give up – we will succeed in getting to know Him better. He wants us to
enter into that “inner court” with Him – behind the veil of obstacles that this
life presents. He longs to be close to us and enjoy us while we snuggle up to Him
and enjoy His presence more than anything else. Can you relate?
I hope this blesses
you in some way and helps you to draw closer to the presence of Jesus.
Hanny
Lynn Stearns
Fish N
Loaves Ministries, Inc.
Hannylynn05@gmail.com
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