Meet Me at the Well.

Today’s reflection is an excerpt from Fifty-Two Cups of Coffee, Cup 16. This chapter is one of my favorites because it reminds me that God is willing to meet us wherever we let Him. I pray it reminds you of the same.

Happy Thursday!
Natalie Brown

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What I find to be most fascinating about the life and ministry of Jesus, is the way he is always doing what should not be done in the eyes of the world, but perfectly right in the Kingdom of God. John chapter four – the story of the Samaritan woman – is my favorite example. With a single question, and to a woman he should have had no business talking to, Jesus obliterates several gendered, cultural, and social prejudices while demonstrating the heart of the gospel: Christ came for all.

As readers, we are invited into a story of belonging, but first, we are introduced to the margins. Theologians have said that given the racial class and social standing of Samaritans at this time, it is more than likely that the woman in this story was an outcast. This is most likely why she arrived at the well at the sixth hour (around noon), for this was resting time – thereby making the area deserted. Condemned by her past and cultural identity, she was forced to hide within the shadows. Jesus, however, cares far less about what others have to say about her, and much more about whom He knows her to be: a daughter of God. Despite her social inconveniences and past history, Christ calls her worthy.

There is much to glean from this story, but today I am captivated by the space in which it takes place. This is our first account of Jesus revealing his divine identity and he chooses to do it at a watering station. If I were Jesus, I might have chosen something a little more dramatic such as a dinner party or large body of water. But no, Jesus chooses a well: a commoner’s place. Jesus takes a daily occurrence and transforms it into something sacred.

Suddenly, the well is no longer a singular destination for daily fulfillment, but a conversion point, a physical reminder of the power of God transforming our ordinary spaces into testimonies of His love. What I love about this story is its intrinsic reminder that God turns our ordinary moments into extraordinary experiences. With a single touch from Christ, that which is mundane becomes transformative and holy.

And so, I can’t help but wonder: what are our well moments? What are the places we show up to out of necessity, yet simultaneously the spaces where we don’t always feel that we belong? Perhaps it is in these very spaces that Christ meets us most clearly, drawing us to see His divine identity and asking us to name it as such. Just like the woman at the well, Jesus tells us that we are worthy of the Gospel message and furthermore fully qualified messengers of its worth.

So, how might God be trying to meet you at the well today?