Being with two minutes of stillness and silence before God.

John 4 holds one of the most profound and transformative conversations in the entire New Testament.

As Jesus and the disciples travel through Samaria, they encounter an unnamed woman getting water from a well. Under the surface, there is a lot wrong with this encounter. For one Jews and Samaritans did not interact. The Jewish people looked down on the Samaritans as something like ugly step-siblings who weren’t invited to the family Christmas dinner. Secondly, for this woman to be traveling outside of town to retrieve water, a physically taxing task, at noon (v.6-7) meant she was most likely avoiding people. Most people would have completed this chore when it wasn’t so hot. We read later in this story that she has a backstory that probably caused a great deal of gossip and whispering when she was around. Third, for a Jewish Rabbi to interact with a woman with such a checkered past wouldn’t have boded well for his reputation.

There were plenty of reasons for Jesus to stay quiet and not engage with this woman, but He intentionally used this unexpected encounter to reveal something deeply true about the desires of our souls.

She was looking for water to quench her physical thirst. What we learn in this conversation, however, is that her soul is longing for true connection and belonging. In that pursuit, she burned through relationship after relationship that never satisfied the longing in her soul. She would say in this moment that she simply desired water. The town gossips would say she desired another man. Constantly searching. Never satisfied. Until Jesus offers a better way.

To be clear, desire is not always a bad thing. It is important to understand, however, that desire is never satisfied. Desire is an infinite emotion because you and I were created to desire an infinite God. So, when our desire for the infinite gets misplaced in the finite, it becomes destructive.

Remember God is the Creator, our enemy is not. Satan cannot create, so he distorts God’s good creation. God has placed a desire in you, but the enemy twists and distorts that desire until we crave things that never really satisfy. That's why we find ourselves stuck in the rat race of more. More money. More things. More relationships. The more still never satisfies.

A major part of following Jesus is learning to desire the presence of God and placing all other desires in their proper place under Him. His presence is exactly what Jesus offers as “living water that becomes a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Take two minutes to reflect in silence.

Reflection:

• Can you think of a time when desire has led you down a destructive path? Looking back, were there warning signs that you missed? 
• When you consider your desires in this moment, do they reflect God’s heart? Are you finding satisfaction in the presence of God or in the temporary things of the flesh? 
• Prayer: Dear Lord, I open my mind and my heart to You to search and know the motives of my heart. I pray that You would reveal the sin hidden in me and refine me in Your holy presence. Transform my heart and lead me each day down the path that leads to You. In Jesus' name, Amen.