Bible Study: Psalm 139

Ends and beginnings have a way of stirring all of us. But if you’re ‘stuck’ in life or if you struggle with shame or not seeing your worth, or if you are at the end of your rope –or the end of yourself with nothing to cling to, you may not know how to pull THROUGH those transitions. If that is you, I ask you to please check this out.

I’ve always heard that Psalm 139 was the greatest Psalm but I didn’t understand why. –That is until it carried me through the hardest season of my life. This video is a line by line study of this chapter (along with a mixture of prayer, poetry, testimony, and reflections about oysters that also became significant to me during this time.) I want nothing more than for you to feel ‘relief’ so that you can truly have a ‘Happy’ NEW year, and to ‘SEE’ things a little differently. After all, 2020 = PERFECT vision. May we all be blessed enough to receive. There are a LOT of notes because I have to write them out first. So you can basically see the written version of this video, with links, here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1u_LTKci3rgTOk3lIg96s4o9CNKu4rQaD

Devotion: Drifting

I probably could’ve shortened this one but sometimes it’s hard to tell which examples or details are needed or not. I remember the days I couldn’t hear God speak and quite frankly, I thought other people could be a little nuts when they said God did. But I’ve learned a few things since that time and I’d like to share them with you. May this devotion ‘speak’ to you. God bless. ❤️ Additional tools: 1. 10 Powerful ways God speaks in the Bible - https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/bible... 2. Video & Workbook Bible Study ‘Experiencing God’ by Henry Blackaby: https://blackaby.org/experiencing-god/ 3. For more devotions like this one visit: http://faith-unfolding.blogspot.com/ or subscribe to my channel.

The Butterfly

While healing and solitude may not sound like anything glamourous, I’d like to point out something about the butterfly.

The stages that a butterfly must go through to earn its wings is nothing short of awing. Not only do they begin as one creature, disappear into the darkness, only to emerge as another that is completely different. But a caterpillar is made in such a way that it essentially digests itself and turns to complete liquid before coming back together to form the butterfly. And the ONLY way they can fly, is by the muscle that is built during the struggle to break free from the cocoon. If interrupted or assisted in any way, it could ruin their ability to fly at all.

We can’t just say that we forgive, or take a class, or practice new things. While those things are also important, they can’t bypass the emotional work that needs to be done. We must learn to sit in the darkness and allow our emotions to expose themselves to us fully. Witnessing them. Letting them take us down to their depths without our trying to judge them, correct them, or tamp them back down with food, alcohol, drugs, sex, entertainment, or some other distraction. -Discovering our wholeness, facing parts of ourselves that we may not have seen before and sitting with them. Digesting our story along with the ones we’ve told our self and questioning their truths.

There’s something else about a butterfly’s transformation that is important to point out. Metamorphoses also requires and happens during deep rest and solitude. That chrysalis is suspended for a reason. How much greater is the change happening on the inside during this time than anything that we could ever erect, or see, on the outside.

If you want to change your life, embrace these secrets. Befriend all of the parts of you, without anyone else around. Loving ourselves is a struggle that most of us have – and to do it for no good reason—makes no sense! But no one can rescue us from it, or do it for us. It’s a struggle that we must earn. While it can be brutal, messy, and exhausting, breaking through those barriers that we have to/around ourselves (often referred to as shadow or egowork), can be our most beautiful work, and the very thing that gives us our wings.

Washing Oysters

This devotion is in two formats, video and as a blogpost. Scroll farther down to read, instead of watch or listen.

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It is surreal the way that some things can touch you. In this case, for me, it was in washing oysters. I sat on a pier Thursday night removing sea squirts, barnacles, crabs, and muck from their tiny shells. In some weird way, it felt like the greatest honor to be able to care for something so small. There was an unexplainable amount of love and peace felt with everything I touched.

I can’t say that oysters have ever been any part of my routine either. So, they weren’t ever anything that I would notice, much less give too much thought about or sentiment. (Until maybe in recent months when I feel like God uses them to talk to me about so many things, spiritually, in metaphor. So, now they mean something to me and I’m kind of crazy about ‘most things’ oyster or pearl. I adore them.) 

Then my daughter and I joined the Chesapeake Bay Foundation over the summer in their #savethebay project. We are now oyster gardeners.

As I sat on that pier, I couldn’t get over how beautiful they were. I must have dozens of pictures in my phone and I think I could have sat there with them, all night. 

Imagine if we all felt like that about all little things... no matter how mundane, dirty, or small. Of course, I pray this is one of those things that sticks, for me, in ALL aspects of my life. Even when I’m doing something for the thousandth time. I want to hold that moment and remember-- there is honor in it, and privilege in taking care of things.

Days later, I am still meditating on that experience. And as I do so, I am reminded of several verses like:

- Isaiah 40:11 that says “He gathers us in his arms, and holds us close to heart.”  

- Psalm 139:9-10 “God holds us in his right hand”. 

- John 10:28 “no one can snatch us from his hand”

-And then 1 John 1:9 that talks about the way “he cleanses us”

And now, I can’t help but see that strange and wonderful love rush must’ve been the way God looks at each of us.

Not all of the things I removed from the oysters were bad either. However, they were harmful for the oyster in some way. If they didn’t kill them immediately, they could gradually accumulate in the cage and suffocate or drain them. Some had to be pulled off, others scraped. Much of it was messy. But never once, did I see something I didn’t want to touch. I wanted to restore ‘my babies’. And free what was precious to me.

I don’t know how many oysters I touched. Each one unique, and I admired all of the shapes, and hues, and the ways that they were each so different and growing at various paces. I wanted to see every one of them, and each of their details, and help them have their best chance at health, success, and life. I understood their purpose and how important they were —their cause, to me.

Friend, I don’t know what you think about, or find passion in, but so many times we can see ‘our time with God’ as a separate event or task from the things that we’re already doing. Zephaniah 3:17 tells us that God is in our midst. He is always available for communication.

I don’t know how you view God, or think that he looks at you. There may be things that you are ashamed of, and things that you wrestle with, and can’t bear to look at. But you’ve got a Father that sees WHAT HE LOVES IN YOU, more than he sees anything ‘dirty’ or ‘too messy’, to fool with anywhere else you are concerned.

The rest of that verse in 1 John 1:9 says “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 

There is a ‘togetherness’ in our cleansing. Don't underestimate what happens when you spend time with the Lord. No matter how or where you spend it. And whatever you've got on you, just lay it all bare before him. He already sees it. His son died to get a hold of it. Let God cleanse you, and show you how much he loves you for who you already are.

God's Masterpiece

This devotion is in two formats, video and as a blogpost. Scroll farther down to read, instead of watch or listen.

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Of all of my children, Jackson is the one that is the most excited about art. He particularly loves oil pastels (and any other supply if it’s ‘new’.) Recently, I purchased a new brand of pastels, which made them of double interest to him. They were a step down from what I have been experimenting with but they much more affordable, with a wider selection of colors.

The night that they arrived, Jackson was excited to go to work and couldn’t wait for us to paint. We each got a piece of paper and started making marks just to see how they transferred to the paper. The new brand seemed to go on more easily than what we’d been using. They were also more chalky than oily. Our paper had a faint texture and Jackson was fascinated at the way the marks were coming out between the two mediums.

After completing his first piece, he proudly stood back with his hands on his hips and exclaimed: 

This is the goodest picture I’ve ever made. I love these things! Now, give me another piece [of paper]!”

I laughed then showed him how to make a few more marks from different angles.

The next thirty minutes or so were spent with him pummeling out a new piece of work. Topped off with a boast about the final product. Then he’d rip the paper from the board that secured it, fling it over his shoulder, across the room. Then demand another piece.

He was so full of himself and so proud. It was a little wild but adorable.

Now I don’t know what happens to us as we get older but it seems that somewhere, we learn that we’re not supposed to talk about our talents, display verbal pride about what we’ve produced, or even take up too much time talking about ourselves. Many of the things that we do say in our reflections are critical or downplayed because we don’t want to seem arrogant or we’re worried about upsetting someone else. (Ahem, people-pleasing.)

Sometimes, the things gone wrong, are the only marks that we see—forgetting how many of the things that we touch every day, are new to us as well.

There are other passages in scripture that also tell us to give God all of the glory. And somehow –sometimes --whether it's taught or interpreted-- when we try to reconcile giving everything to God against our being a sinner, we can believe that it's bad to accept anything good about ourselves at all. 

This might be a stretch but in the eyes of a mother looking at her son, it would seem strange for Jackson to stand back, look at his art, and tout that all that he produced was because of me. I provided him the tools. He gave me honor by wanting to spend time with me, doing what I was doing, using what I gave him; and by being unafraid of the unknown, risking a mess, in order to make a discovery.  

Just the same way, we have a heavenly Father that loves us more than any of us could fathom. How we give God glory can be hard to process or understand. But consider the words of Ephesians 2:10.

The ESV version says that “we are His workmanship in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them”.

I like the NLT translation even better. It calls us his ‘masterpiece’. And tells us that he has created us anew. So that we CAN DO the things that HE planned for us long ago.

What I want you to see here is that a ‘masterpiece’ is an artist's BEST work of art. Not the scrap paper, a test run, or even the 50^th reproduction.

Not only are we a masterpiece but we were created to make masterpieces, to do good work, and to follow his examples, as a creator, emulating him. That was his plan.

As a parent, I often think about the verse from Matthew 18:3 that asks us to be like little children. While you and I may not be quite as full of ourselves about our work, it is energizing to be around someone who is EXCITED about the things that they are working on. Who sees more of the potential and possibilities, rather than the reasons to stand back or behind.

In examples like this one, I can’t help but see that one of the best ways that we can give God glory is by developing a love for new things; not resisting change; following our curiosities in the things that we’re interested in even when it takes us out of our comfort zone; being open to God’s plan and the opportunities before us; wanting to be a part of new experiences, no matter what they ‘look like’ or how they turn out.

Believing that our best effort is a masterpiece by itself and the very best way to honor him. –You know, by practicing -- living out—what we say that we believe; that what God makes and has made, including each of us, is truly a beautiful and usable design after all.

--

Mediate on that today, this week, this month, or when it resurfaces again. You are a work of art. Don’t overthink this. Some of the best art is ‘rough around the edges’. Maybe everything that you have been given, and will come in contact with, is provided to you, simply for you to ‘explore’ without making a ‘something’ of it. It may be the goodest thing you've ever done.

The Samaritan Woman

First, I’d like to pray. Father God, you know where each of us sit. Why someone has tuned in and why I had something to say. How you have worked that out, and will work that out, in each of our lives. This is a long message, and so I pray that the whole thing is a prayer and that the words wash all the way down. –And that you do what you do best, and rearrange things to that they do what they need to in each of us. Amen.

The Samaritan Woman is one of the more well-known chapters in the Bible. If you haven't heard about her, grab yours now and follow along with me in John 4. I’ll do a quick recap while you find it.

She was an outcast because of her race and because she is a woman.

So, let me give you a little background on the race part. I am going to read you the commentary from my Life Application Bible.

When the Northern Kingdom with its capital at Samaria fell to the Assyrians, many Jews were deported to Assyria, and the foreigners were brought in to settle the land and help keep the peace (2 Kings 17:24). The intermarriage between those foreigners and the remaining Jews resulted in a mixed-race, impure in the opinion of Jews who lived in the Southern Kingdom. Thus the pure Jews hated the mixed-race called the Samaritans because they felt they had betrayed their people and their nation. They set up an alternate center for worship on Mount Gerazim to parallel the Temple at Jerusalem, but it had been destroyed 150 years earlier. The Jews did everything they could to avoid traveling through Samaria. But Jesus had no reason to live by such cultural restrictions. The route through Samaria was shorter, and that was the route that he took.

Jacob’s well was on the property originally owned by Jacob. It was not a spring-fed well, but a well into which water seeped from rain and dew collecting at the bottom. Wells were almost always located outside the city along the main road. Twice each day, morning and evening, women came to draw water. (During the cooler parts of the day.)

 Switching back to my notes.

The Samaritan woman also had a past, and her current lifestyle played a role. And when most women travel to the well in the morning and evening to draw water, she went at noon to further avoid the crowd that you would expect to find her in. – Adding to her ‘differentness.’

One of the biggest things that I want to point out here is that people will always have something to say about you and your life. People didn’t like her for all of the reasons above. And you know as well as I do that there are things that happen to each of us that makes us want to avoid the crowd or hold ourselves back. There are also things that we do to take care of ourselves that cause separation. And things that happen to us that force it.

People will condemn you and persecute you for any of these things. So, it can be hard to believe in a God that simply wants to love us and let us know him. But is exactly what we see that in this example.

While there she meets Jesus at the well and they have a very short discussion, and she comes to believe in him. She then goes back to tell the people in the town about her experience, and others come to believe in him also.

The conversation is SO simple that it’s hard to see how that can change a person. Yet the text, at least for me, in this chapter, is SO hard to follow and understand. (You may even want to take a moment to read it before I begin.) But it spoke to me, and I want to share it with you because it really is ‘that easy’ and it’s that important. The more that I learn about it this story, the more I love it. Please tune in.

Let's begin

The first six verses in this chapter talk about Jesus’s journey to the well. So, I'm just going to jump right into verse 6 where Jesus is already at the well when she arrives. In verse 7, the dialogue starts with him asking her for a drink. “No hi, how ya doing.” He asks her to give him the very thing she came after.

There is a little irony there because many times throughout our faith journey, the thing that we are seeking –or NEEDING rather, will lead us to the very place that we meet God. And sometimes we are also asked to ‘give it up’ or ‘let go of it’ first so he can give us something else instead.

Whether or not she is socially unacceptable, she further changed her schedule to avoid dialogue with others. Now here is this man asking her for something.

So I’m going to guess that she is startled by the conversation. Instead of granting his request, she replies by describing her unworthiness.

“You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans).

Now stop right there- 

Women are particularly guilty of this. We're either putting ourselves down or reminding others of our past, status, or limitations. “I can’t do that because I don’t know how.” “You wouldn’t want me because I am no good at that…” (And I have been guilty of this myself.)

Regardless of whether or not he ‘should be’ talking to her, it didn’t stop him. And He only asked her for water.

The conversation seems a little cryptic because Jesus replies to her question in verse 10 “If you knew the Gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 

I mean what does that have to do with the well? Didn't he just ask her for a drink? He didn’t even answer her question.

But it’s not cryptic at all. He’s responding to who she is in that moment when she asked the question. She's the one who pointed out her issues. I think what he’s really saying, is that if you knew the gift of God, you wouldn’t struggle with feeling less than and you wouldn’t worry about what you can’t do. You would be able to rely on me and have confidence about where you’re at. And the last thing that you would be worried about is race, rules, or what everyone else thinks.

Never once in his sentence does he mention her Samaritanship, or her gender, or any of those specific things that she might be worried about.

In verse 11, she reminds him again of another limitation. “You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?” Then in verse 12, she asks him if he’s greater than Jacob, who built the well. 

He replies, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in them a spring of water, welling up to eternal life.”

My commentary reminds us that you can learn more about the references to Jesus as a fountain in verses like:

Psalm 42:1 that describes our thirst for God- As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.

Isaiah 55:1 Where God tells all that are thirsty to come to him.

And Jeremiah 2:13 that reads: “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.  – What a reference to our ego and our stubbornness, trying to do things our own way, without God.

And in Psalm 36:9, God is called the Fountain of life- For with you is the fountain of life; in your light, we see light.

So he’s telling her, yes, you do have a physical need for the water from this well to satisfy your fleshly thirst. But something else is parched... Is it your mind, because you stay up at night wrestling with thoughts? Is it your spirit because this life just seems too complicated and too hard? Is it your heart because it's too worn out from trying or numbing? If you can just come to me, the water I will give you will become a spring of water bubbling up to eternal life. You might still have a physical thirst, and you might still have problems, but your spirit will be satisfied. You will get rest. You will feel refreshed. Not only that, but what I tell you will become a story that you will want to share many times to encourage others. …welling up, bubbling over… and many times what you and I memorize in scripture or study privately on our own, will bubble up later on when we need it most – and GUIDE us, just like it said in that last verse, in your light we see.

Who doesn’t like the sound of that, right? So, in verse 15 she asks him where she can get that water, but you can tell she’s not quite getting it because she is still thinking about how this well for the real water, makes her keep coming back for more.

Then he says in verse 16, “Go call your husband and come back.” To which she replies, “I have no husband.” 

He continues, “You’re right when you say that you have no husband. The fact is that you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you said is quite true.”

Now you might read that and think, ooooh snap- he just called her out! And in a way he did. -But not to condemn her. If he was going to do that, he would’ve done it when she first questioned why he, a Jew, was talking to her if she was a Samaritan. He wanted her to know; he sees her. He knows her name. He knows who she is and her private thoughts and what she’s been through. And all of this living water that he’s been talking about is for her too. He knows who he’s talking to. 

Of course, you might wonder why he called the 6^th guy her husband if he wasn’t… Why would he do that if he knew her…?  Personally, I think he was trying to be courteous to her. --To give her dignity by not calling her out. He lets her confess it to him. THEN he lets her know that he already knew. 

And if God sees hearts, who’s to say she hadn’t already married him in her heart. But either way, again, he is the gentlemen. He accepts her status and acknowledges her where she is right now.

And have you ever had one of those encounters, either before you have committed your life to Christ or in the early days of your faith, where you bump into someone that brings up church or God, and it makes you squirm and or straighten up a little? You may want to acknowledge your experience with it. Maybe you talk about your parent's faith. Maybe you talk about why the church doesn't work for you. Yet, you either don't know the details or you don't want to get too deep in the conversation, so you try to change the subject a little.

Well, I think that's exactly what we see in verse 19 when she says, “I can see that you’re a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” 

She's making a statement. She’s heard of him and had some family that “went to church.” But is she also asking a question? Where do I worship?

I mean speed up to our time. Is it this church or that one? -This denomination, or service, or ritual? WHERE can we find this God and what are we supposed to do?

He responds to her by telling her that one day she won’t be in any of those places to worship. As for right now, none of that really matters. You’re going to a church and going through the motion, but you’re missing the whole point. You don’t know what you need to know. –or who you need to know rather. BECAUSE-

If you don’t know God (and his gift), you won’t really be able to fully worship him anywhere. And if you do know God and his gift, then you can worship him everywhere! -On the mountain, in Jerusalem, and at the grocery store!

He goes on to say in verses 23-24 that we should worship in spirit and in truth. What does that even mean? 

Well let me tell you, it took me the last five years to figure that one out. But it’s huge. So please hear my heart.

You can go to all of the church services you want to. You can listen to podcasts. You can memorize scripture, write it on sticky notes, and hang it on your wall, read your affirmations and tell yourself that you’re going to do better, or be better. But if you don’t listen to that internal voice, whether it’s your intuition, or feeling your feelings, or being really being honest about who you are, and where you’re at, and what you need, speaking your truth, then you are only ‘following the rules’ and your legalism will BIND you.

You have a spirit so that you can have a one on one, personal, relationship with God and others. Don’t get me wrong. We need religion. We need the Bible. ‘The rules’ are there to show us the things that cause us harm and hurt others. But we can stick so close to ‘the law’ of things that we dismiss how it impacts the spirit of those involved, causing greater harm.

Your spiritual practice or cultivation (whether that’s meditating on the word, or still meditation, journaling, talking to God, or listening to God, or feeling your feelings, etc.)—Whatever your spiritual practice is, it is JUST as important as knowing what the Word of God says. Let me clarify. I don't believe that there is anything more important than knowing God. But if you don't know who you are, how can you be honest or transparent with God about anything? And because he does know you, if you don't, you may not accept the guidance that you hear.

Not only that but if you don't spend time alone, in spiritual practice, or getting in touch with yourself, you may become too comfortable doing what everyone else is doing. And friend, you weren't meant for that!

As for the 'truth' part of that statement, John 14:6 says that HE (and only He) is the way, the TRUTH, and the life. 

John 8:32 says that the TRUTH will set you free. Whether that is the truth of your confession or learning His truth. Both can set you free.

You must worship and practice your faith in both ways, in spirit, and in truth, because what is born out of the center of those two, is the personal plan, direction, and will for your life!

Balance.

I cannot tell you how important that is… Please spend some time pondering this – at your own well. Ask yourself about some of the things that you are carrying. Take a moment to look in your pot. Pull the junk out. Ask yourself is there any ‘truth’ in it. And if there’s not, what can you change to get it in there?

Just the same, if you’re trying to do all of the things that you ‘should be doing’ you will be filled with so much shame if it doesn’t match what is in your heart. It will be so binding, blinding, and exhausting. That is living out of fear and codependency, not from a place of love.

Isaiah 61:1 says that he comes to bind up the brokenhearted and to set the captives free and to release the prisoners from their darkness.

Your time at the well with Christ, should be acknowledging and liberating you or healing you in it.

In contrast, if you haven’t even considered the law, or what the Bible has to say, maybe that’s part of the reason that you keep getting hurt. You need some parameters in place and better boundaries. And the book ‘Boundaries’ by Henry Cloud is incredibly refreshing. There is so much scripture in that book but explained in such a healthy honoring way. You and I are made to be vessels that carry refreshment to others, and if we aren’t taking care of what we’re given in our own physical stamina, then it will be so difficult to deliver what is needed or hold on to the strength and peace that God offers.

Oh, I hope you heard what I wanted you to know.

But back to our passage. He just told her to worship in spirit and in truth.

In verse 25, we see that she doesn't know either side. She's still talking about him. Not to him when she says “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

She’s heard of him. She just doesn’t know him personally to be able to recognize or identify him. 

And let me tell you, you can experience so much condemnation over this whether it's from yourself, the devil, or even others that and you might be tempted to give it [this faith thing] up because it’s just too confusing. But can I tell you something? 

Even Mary –his own mother- had trouble recognizing Jesus after the resurrection because she was so consumed in her grief. (See John 20) She didn’t expect to see him. 

What about us - we also have struggles? Sometimes they consume us and distort our perception as well. Do we expect to see God? Would we recognize him if we were at that well with him? Would we even give a little credit to that whisper in our heart and test it – Just ask God if he’s really there?

So WHEN she starts thinking about the Messiah coming, what he might do, you know what happens…? See verse 26.

He makes himself known. 

Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”

Gosh, and there is such timeliness to that. I mean consider it. If he announced that he was the Messiah when they first met at the well, she wouldn’t have given him the time of day. 

I mean, she’s avoiding everyone else because of her weakness. She would have run as fast as she could, either because he was a crazy man or because who wants to let God see all this stuff. 

So, he does as he always does. He meets us where we are. He acknowledges her “junk” first and then introduces himself. She won't have anything to be ashamed of after she finds out who he is. Because he already knows it!! But he doesn’t reveal himself until we start to give him a little possibility.  <3

So then, in verse 27, the disciples come back. If you have your Bible, look at verse 28 with me because there are a few more things that I want to point out. 

"Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, "Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

The first thing that I want to point out is that she left her water jar. I mean, did she even fill it up? What he had was so good; her other needs seemed less important ...kind of what like he promised, right? 

Then she went back and told people that the man “told her everything that she ever did.” 

What struck me about this line was that he only told her about six relationships of hers. Something personal. Something that she was most likely ashamed of. Something that made her feel separate or not good enough. Ponder that thought for a moment. 

I know part of me thought; gosh we’re so dramatic at times. "That was everything...?" 

But look deeper. 

How many things do we let define us and be our everything? This can be good or bad. Is it past sin, failures as a parent or partner, accomplishments, what others say, being the one to fix everything, etc.? God sees everything about us, but his gift goes to work, right where we need it most! In our heart. In what we hold and what others may or may not know. 

Second, let’s just talk about transformation. Not only did she leave her jar at the well. –The thing she came after was suddenly not as important as telling others about him. But this is a woman who avoided people. And suddenly she couldn’t help herself from going back to tell others.

If you continue reading, in verse 39, the chapter says that many came to believe because of her testimony. All she said was, “He told me everything that I ever did.” Don’t we worry that we have to have the right words or the correct answers or some crazy, profound experience to talk to someone else? Especially when it comes to our faith! We don't! We just get to talk about what he means to us and how or why we got there, etc. No embellishments. No grand finales. Simplicity. The truth… He does the rest.

But I do believe that God does want to be crazy profound with each of us! And isn't there a little bit of the Samaritan woman in each of us too? 

If you circle back to the very first verse; their dialogue started when God asked her for the very thing that she was after. [the place of her struggle].

What is it you are after? What is it that you need—that keeps you up at night and causes your anxiety or worry? What is that you can’t seem to stop carrying?

Well, it starts by first letting it go. All of it.

Don’t over-complicate this. It is exactly as it sounds. Remember verse 28 said she left her pot and went back to town.

You and I will find a thousand ways to hang on to a little bit of something, either because we don’t understand or because letting go can be so hard. And part of the struggle is our human need to be in control and to know the next step. Part of it is the way that we’re raised and what we believe. And sometimes what God tells us to let go of doesn’t sound at all like what God would say. –Maybe it seems too odd, or the thing doesn’t even seem like it’s that big of a deal or something God would even care about. Other times we’re addicted, or we don’t even know that there is another way because we’re doing the best we can with what we know.

You don’t have to know the reason or even how you will accomplish it to let it go. If God is pressing something on your heart here, I encourage you to pray, journal, fast, look for confirmation, rest, talk with others that have experience here – and spend some time in prayer. Just you and Jesus at the well.

If there is something that he is asking of you, it may be unusual, or difficult, but trust that it may be a life-changing experience and the greatest testimony that you’ve ever had.

I continue my prayers here for you. May God bless you, richly for any step you take toward him.

Thank you for listening.

**Note: This post was originally written in 2014. I began updating it in 2018 but there were a lot of changes, so I just rewrote it for this post.  Unfortunately, the originally post isn’t exactly the original but here it is anyway, for the record. ;)

A Lighter Journey

A couple of years ago I went to Las Vegas for a conference for work. It’s one of the perks that I love about my job; getting to go places and see things that I wouldn’t ordinarily get to see. (Yes, that includes the conferences and the actual speakers and information.) I had never been to Vegas before, or anywhere beyond the east coast for that matter – at that time. While I can’t say that Vegas wasn’t on any list of places that I wanted to go, I was excited about finding something new on the trip.

Our hotel and the conference were both deep in the heart of the city. The first day gave us a good pocket of time before the events kicked off, I searched for non-Vegas attractions. -Things to do 'outside' of where I would be staying over the next few days.

 

Immediately, I found it. Red Rock Canyon. 

My co-worker and I are more of the outdoorsy types anyway, so we slipped away for a 'quick' hike. That is if there is such a thing... 

The park was 40 minutes away from our hotel. But we had a fun Uber driver that liked people (which is surprisingly not the case with all drivers). And she was even kind enough to wait the 1-2 hours Paula and I wandered around the trail. (This is a good thing to note. Because cell coverage isn’t so hot there. The odds of getting an Uber or Taxi on the way back would have been a lot more difficult. Especially in a time crunch.) I took her picture too but in the two years since it looks like I’ve only retained the ones you see here in this post. I’m thankful for these none-the-less.

Anyway, it was so beautiful there. I mean yes, it’s all rocks, dirt, and plants, but it looks different than what you see here, in Virginia. There were desert-y and cactus-y flowers. Even some that looked like mini cotton plants. And contrary to our hiking in the mountains of Virginia, this place was mostly flattish plains against the mountains. For every mound above the ground, you could see the different types of sediment layers in the rocks. But what surprised me the most was that during the hike, you walked closer to the mountains and then farther away from them. There were very few hills to climb and no trees to obstruct the view. And the mountain was always right in front of you. At least in this particular park.

It was one of those beautiful days too where the sky seems like that perfect bright blue backdrop to super white clouds. And it felt kind of like being in a time-lapse video, or something that you would see on T.V. because when the clouds rolled over, you could feel their shadow and see it, coming in, and going out over the ground, the whole way that it traveled. I guess another perk to ‘flat’ land.

There was so much to take in and so many details to notice.

Oddly enough one of the things that stuck out from the trip is that a doggie bag was left by another hiker on the trail. I was a little annoyed that someone took the time to bag it and then leave it. What was the point? I thought to myself as I continued hiking.

I didn't even realize that mini conversation with myself 'stuck' with me but it did. That question would later lead to an incredible catchphrase for some of my own thoughts that I needed to clean up.

You see about a week before coming to Vegas we adopted a cheetah disguised as a long-haired German shepherd. She was only 3 but still FULL of puppy energy. When I returned from my trip, I started taking her on my morning runs.  I had never really run with a dog before. At least not on a leash. Sure, I had other dogs but running with them was different. By the time that I started becoming more active and running intentionally, all of my dogs were older and had health problems, so sadly, they couldn’t go along. Running Cleo was going to be part of the morning routine. Although, I am not really sure who runs who. She is so fast that for the first few months, I had to ride a bike just so I could keep up with her and it felt every bit like the death ride that it sounds. –At least when we were taking off.

Anyway, so, we all know that proper etiquette is picking up behind your dog. But on this side of things carrying a bouncy bag of poo is every bit as unappealing as it sounds. And to make it less bouncy, holding the bulky part makes you more aware of the heat and texture. It’s not exactly something that you want to put in your pocket either. So, I find that many times, whenever I can help it, I bag it so that I can find it more easily. Then I leave the bag on the side of the road until my way back so that I can carry it the least amount of time possible. It wasn’t until that first opportunity to experience this that I suddenly remembered being on the trail in Vegas and at the exact same time the phrase “Never judge a man until you walk a mile in their shoes.” Literally!

I gained understanding.

It is very likely that the person on the trail left the bag with every intention of picking it up on the way back. –And they could have lost their way, forgot, or just have not passed back through yet. Who knows?! But at that moment, it was such an-aha. “Next time you think something is crappy, ask yourself if it’s your judgment.”

I softened.

I know it sounds so cliché but that catchphrase was one that has stuck. It has caught me time and again in little ways that I didn’t realize that my judgment was along for the ride. You know like when your child, or spouse, or stranger does something to irritate you. Check your response. How many times do you judge the behavior because you know what you would have done or what you expected? When you slip up and do something a little less wonderfully than you meant to, or make a mistake yourself, how much do you berate yourself for something you ‘should have done’ or ‘should have known’.

You may not have thought of that one. –But we definitely judge ourselves.

What’s funny is I don’t think most of us want to judge. I try really hard not too and try to see the best in everyone and everything. But I do still drop the ball. There are definitely appalling encounters and we also need discernment. A healthy dose of judgment is needed there. But for the most part, we’re also accustomed to our own environments, our beliefs, and ideas, what we know to be true for ourselves, and our ways- a limited perspective. Our thoughts fly out in nano-seconds and they’re often out of the gate before we recognize them for what they are. More often, we’re only left with their weight and burden. Then trying to analyze or understand what is making us so heavy.

The truth is we’re all on this journey through life and trying to make sense of it. At times, we even lose our way. But we’re all also still learning. The judgments that we can carry about anyone or anything, including ourselves, can often be much more detrimental to our spiritual health, than any excrement on the outside. And if insight and understanding was the solution to end it, then perhaps, when we find ourselves at that crossroads, or even feeling weighed down, it’s a prompt to ask a question. Hopefully, that catchphrase will catch you. Then you can go deeper and ask other questions, even if it's only ‘what can I learn from this moment?” So that you can gain your own understanding.

Proverbs 4:7 even tells us that ‘It may cost you all that you have but get understanding’.

Because it is that important. 

It is worth asking the question(s).

You may look crazy or sound crazy in the process but the right answer will help you put the heavier things down. Then you’re more freed up to celebrate the journey.

P.S. If you liked this post and would like to go a little deeper on this subject, there is a book called 

"Change Your Questions, Change Your Life" by Marilee Adams that you may also appreciate.

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