Seeking Living Water

This weeks edition of WE is written by my dear friend and past roommate Landry! Landry is currently traveling the world (literally) on a year long mission trip called the World Race. She has recently just been promoted to Squad Leader of her group and is stationed in Jordan. I have had the gift and privilege of living in such close quarters with this gal and man her passion is CONTAGIOUS. She is lively and deep in all that she does. I have seen her wrestle, process, and live out exactly what she has written. She is dedicated and open to sit, listen, and hear how the Lord is gently stirring in her life. Now here comes the good stuff:

Landry-

Answer the following questions:

Enneagram type- 4

Favorite side dish- popcorn popped on the stove with a lotta salt. I have it at least once a day

Power outfit- In America: Mom jeans & adidas & jean jacket

                   On the World Race: jandles, jeans, the same striped shirt i’ve worn for the past 3 months, & my favorite flannel

Favorite word right now- Anointed

Chris or Liam Hemsworth- Liam

Favorite Sports team- Arkansas Razorbacks till the day i die #wps

 

Seeking Living Water – Intimacy with God

        She was walking to get water when she met Jesus. Heart as empty as the jug she carried, she fought the heat of the day in order to avoid the neighborhood eyes full of judgment. She saw Him standing there alone by the well. His eyes were different. With a steady voice He asked, “Please, give me a drink.” She? A woman of Samaria give a Jew a drink? Unheard of. With great authority He said “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.” She looked around searching for His bucket, but it was nowhere to be found. Confused she asked, “But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket, & this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water?” With kind eyes and a gentle smile He replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty, but those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” She had never heard of such a thing, but something inside of her knew she needed this water, she knew it contained all of the things she’s been searching so long for. With great urgency she exclaimed, “Sir, give me this water so that I will never be thirsty again!” His face softened and He commanded “Go, get your husband.” Her cheeks flushed as she looked down, ashamed, but something about His eyes made her want to tell the truth. She kept her eyes on the ground as she replied, “I don’t have a husband.” He gently responded, “You’re right. You don’t have a husband—for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t married to the man you live with now. What you have said is true.” Eyes wide, she gasped. The truth stung, but He didn’t look down on her with contempt, rather with great affection & kindness. “Sir, you must be a prophet!’ How else would He have known the parts of her that she was most ashamed of? She’d heard about the God of the Jews, fascinated, she’d always desired to know more & she knew this man had answers. “Why is it that our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship?” Staring right into her eyes He said, “Dear woman, believe me, the time is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship; we Jews know all about Him, for salvation is from the Jews. But the time is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is looking for those to worship Him in that way.” Not fully understanding what He meant she shook her head, “I know the Messiah is coming—the one who’s called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” He smiled at her and with divine authority He claimed, “I am the Messiah.” She felt her heart stop as His words soaked in. She understood and she knew they were true. She knew that she was standing face to face with the Savior of the world and that not once did He rebuke her, not once did He scorn her. No, He saw every part of who she was and He accepted her. He accepted her & told her she was now welcome to worship His Father. Heart full and unashamed she ran back to the village to tell anyone who would listen, but she left her empty jug behind, for she knew she would never be thirsty again.

~

This past year of my life I have felt like that woman more times than I can count.

I have felt her emptiness; the desperate need to feel fulfilled & believing it will come from the men around me.

I have felt her shame; the shame that only comes from giving in to desires that just lead to disappointment & guilt.

I have felt her loneliness; wanting so desperately to be fully seen & known.

We were the same. Searching for intimacy in all of the wrong places & coming up empty every time.

& then I heard it. That gentle whisper that said, “Give up control. Give up control & lean in to me. Trust me. Trust me in my gentleness. Acknowledge me in all of your ways. Seek me & find me, for I know you. I see you. I created you & I love you.”

We are human beings designed for intimacy. Some of our deepest desires are to be fully known & loved. By no means is that wrong, in fact, it’s exactly what God wants for us. Like the woman at the well, who so desired to be fulfilled through intimacy, but, she didn’t know who made her, who called her daughter, & who had the capability of filling her heart up with living water, until she was staring at Him face to face. Kim Vollendorf says, “God has placed within us a desire for oneness & intimacy so it will push us towards Him. There is no person that will fill that need to be known like He can.”

The hard part is when He feels silent. That’s tough. I start second guessing things & running in all of the wrong directions. But you know what? I’ve found that when the Lord seems “silent,” He’s just whispering, beckoning you closer so you’ll draw near to Him.

Sometimes you have to look for Him. This isn’t because He’s unfair. It’s not because He’s disappointed or angry with you. It’s so that when you seek Him & find Him, you experience the joy of coming home, the joy of finding that He can give what others cannot, the joy in realizing that He will be the one to clean up the mess you made & He will not view you any differently for it because He just wants His child home.

 

But we must seek Him to get there &, my friend, there is so much joy to be had in the seeking. For, to seek Him is to know Him.

The more we get to know our Father the more we find out just how much He knows us.

Just like the woman at the well. Jesus knew her. He knew her searching & her longing. He knew her brokenness & her emptiness.

God created us. He knows everything about His daughters & His sons. He knows about your craving for Chick-fil-a & He knows about the deepest desires of your heart.

He wants to fulfill those desires & He wants to be known by you too. Because, how could we ever find fulfillment or intimacy by someone we know so little about?

He is already as intimate as possible with you, now it’s your turn.

He wants you to know Him. Like really know Him. He wants you to ask Him questions about who He is, what He delights in, what His attributes are & how that is reflected into the world around you.

 

So, worship Him! Declare, out loud, who He is to you today, in this exact moment. Even when you don’t feel it. Meditate on a Psalm. Watercolor. Go on a drive & praise Him in the car. Do it all for Him, because we are ultimately here on this Earth to do exactly that.

Dig into His Word. Eat it up. Ask Him to stir up a renewed passion & joy for His Truth because, I promise you, He’ll do it & you won’t be able to put the thing down! His promises can be found on every page, so look for them, ask Him what they say about who He is, & repeat them to yourself over & over again.

Sit with Him. Be vulnerable in your confessions, bringing everything to light, for where there is light there is healing. Lay all of your desires & all of your confusing feelings at His feet. Ask Him the hard questions & wait for His answers. He wants to teach you, He wants to guide you, & He wants to fulfill you.

&, please, don’t forget to give yourself grace, for the Lord has already covered you with it. A sweet teammate of mine encouraged me to stop fearing my messiness & living in shame. She said that “when we view our valleys & the places we have been, God invites us to smile at where He’s taken us from.” There is so much more joy when we walk in this freedom rather than sit in the guilt from our mistakes.

So friend, I pray that you hit your knees & give Him every part of your life because He so deeply wants it. I pray that you run after Him for He is waiting for you! I pray that you let your Hallelujahs be wholehearted as you bask in His grace. I pray that you seek Him & find Him for there are endless things to discover & when you discover those things I pray it fulfills you in a way you have never known. I pray that, as He tells you who He is, you may drink the living water He offers you so that you may never thirst again.

A Woman Caught – Penny and Sparrow