by Bethany Lashbrook
Today’s Verse: 1 Peter 5:10, “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” (NIV)
This past December, I was exhausted. You know the bit. The type of exhaustion from Christmas programs, special events, work parties, girlfriend’s parties, holiday get-togethers, church gatherings, hanging of the greens, decorating the Christmas trees, making Christmas crafts, and did I mention shopping for presents? AND, top onto all of this, my job (as in my physical job where I have a title) and MY JOB – ya know, the one where I cook supper most every evening, read bed-time stories, do dishes, clean house, keep up on laundry, play a game every now and again and get everyone to and from their schedule (on time, mind you). And, don’t forget my quiet time; that time that I need to relax, spend time alone with the Lord, read the bible, say my prayers, and reflect on God’s blessings. Did you notice how this came last on my to-do list for the craziest month of the year?
And, in all this – I heard the Lord tell me several times (okay, I’ll be honest – LOTS of times) to slow down. “Slow down. Enjoy. Relax. Let the small things slide. Choose your battles. Come to me. Sit beside me and pray. Quit trying so hard. You should only care what I think, not others. Remember what this time of the year is for.” All month long, I tried to listen to the Lord telling me to take it easy, but there just wasn’t enough time to relax. I even sent out a prayer chain for my girlfriends to cover me in prayer so I wouldn’t get the flu that each of my family members had received.
And then January came; a time to relax, right? Not quite. I could go through the to-do list that I had in January, but I’m sure you are all aware that “getting back in the swing of things” is almost as hard as the actual holiday season. This year, the holiday season left me more tired than rejuvenated. Family squabbles, doctor appointments, unexpected news, going right back to work, no snow days – I just didn’t get that time to rest.
And February came with a bang. After two months of me ignoring the Lord telling me to slow down, it happened. I got sick. Not just a little sick. But, a lot sick. The list kept growing of what was wrong. First it was a fever; then I couldn’t swallow. My muscles ached. I couldn’t get out of bed, literally. I became dehydrated and laid in bed for 3 days. I couldn’t think, eat, cook, drink, or take care of my family, my business, or my job duties. I know the Lord didn’t cause me to be sick. But, I do know that getting sick was an indirect response to me ignoring the Lord’s suggestion of rest.
After I woke, my thought was to apologize to the Lord for not talking to him while lying in bed. I went 3 days without a word to the Lord. I felt horrible, yet, I didn’t hear the Lord rebuking me for it. Instead, he adjusted my thoughts to his restoration of my body. Since then, I’ve been looking in the bible of God’s healing touches, his restoration to all men. Jesus healed the blind and those with disease (Luke 7:21 and Luke 6:10). I am reminded in 1 Peter 5:10 that the Lord will renew my strength and place me on a strong foundation. And, I know that many times, the Lord had compassion on those who didn’t listen to Him (huh, sounds familiar) and restored their lives (Zechariah 10:6). He can restore every bit of what he made because he is LORD, he is our Jehovah Rapha – our eternal Healer.
So, I woke up from my sickness with a renewed sense of who the Lord wants me to be. Basically, I need to smell the roses. Catch my drift? I am healed and for that, I am grateful, but I believe the lesson in this one went a bit deeper than anticipated. The Lord restores my soul and I am glad!
Lord, thank you for your healing touch in my life this week, both outward and inward. Thank you for the reminder of WHO is in charge. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Application: When was the last time you took some time to smell the roses? This week, make it a point to sit down at least once and just soak in God and his presence in your life, whether it’s with a good book (perhaps the bible), a romance movie, or just playing a game with the kiddos. And – enjoy it!
Power Verses:
Psalm 51:12, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” (NIV)
Malachi 4:2, “But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture. (NLT)
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Two Women, Two Wells
by guest Josephine Collett
Wells gush forth throughout the pages of the Bible. Like many natural features, they are both functional, providing people with water to drink, utilize, claim and fight over; and symbolic. Wells signify God’s provision, life, health, prosperity and cleansing. In passages dripping with a prophetic signature, Jacob rolls a stone away from a well’s mouth to water the sheep (Genesis chapter 29); and David thirsts for water from the well at Bethlehem (2 Samuel 23). Biblically speaking, wells also have a lot to do with women.
Examine the wells in the Bible and there will often be a woman nearby. Women would congregate daily at the local well to collect water, socialize and keep an eye out for anybody new in town. Wells seemingly provided an acceptable place for young men and women to meet and greet one another.
Consider Rebekah in Genesis 24. An opulent- looking emissary and his entourage arrives in town. Rebekah comes to the well with her water jar, generously volunteering to draw water for him and his ten camels, no slight task. This offer is the specific answer to the prayers of Eliezer, Abraham’s servant, sent to find a wife for Abraham's son, Isaac. Rebekah is of the correct kin group, pretty, kind, hard-working, adventurous, and a virgin - a desirable wife to be sure.
Rebekah happily received the gifts of jewelry presented to her and eagerly set forth to marry an unknown stranger. God led Eliezer to the place where Rebekah was waiting, and guided Rebekah into His plan for her life, as she was to play an important role in the foundation of the nation of Israel.
Wells can symbolise sexuality in the Bible. It’s been suggested that the enclosed spring and sealed fountain (fountains and wells being sometimes used interchangeably) described in Song of Songs chapter 4 refer to the anatomy of a virgin. Married couples are advised to drink water from their own well (Proverbs 5) and for those contemplating adultery, Proverbs 23 reminds us that “a wayward wife is a narrow well,” not likely to be a source of delight for very long.
In John’s gospel, chapter 4, we discover another well, one of only a few references to wells and springs in the New Testament, and another woman, the celebrated “Woman at the Well.” This unnamed Samaritan is a very different lady to Rebekah. She too approaches a compelling stranger. His friends have left and he's alone and tired.
The place may be of significance also, for Jacob’s well, back in Genesis 33, refers to a site where Jacob took an easy option and camped near to the Canaanite city of Shechem, resulting in the subsequent rape of his daughter Dinah by the son of a Shechemite ruler, the first rape mentioned in the bible.
The Samaritan woman at the well is no innocent virgin. She sounds intelligent. She discusses spiritual concepts. She was probably beautiful – she certainly had no trouble attracting men. But she’s been around. She wouldn’t ever be seen as a desirable wife. No social life for her. She’s an outcast, gossiped about, likely as not to seduce a husband. She makes the trek for water alone in the afternoon sun.
There’s a man who wants a drink. What thoughts might have run through her mind? Maybe, like Rebekah, she was looking for a different life. What could he offer her? He will even drink from her cup, Samaritan pariah that she is. What does he really want?
Go and get your husband, says Jesus.
I don’t have one.
No, you’ve had five.
I see you’re a prophet.
It’s an interesting exchange. Why did she call him a prophet after he stated the number of “husbands” she’d had? He knew all about her. What’s more, she knew he knew. He knew how many, when, who. Maybe she’d been sexually abused in the past. Maybe she just made bad choices. Maybe she was now looking for number six. Who knows? Jesus did.
Jesus proclaims himself the Messiah to this hurting woman, offering her “living water”. An amazing transformation occurs. For the first time she’s invited to feel clean on the inside, freed from a life of bondage and sin, and in a lasting relationship with someone who loves her unconditionally, faithfully and respectfully.
The outcast is transformed into an evangelist who witnesses to her neighbours. She becomes one of the most well-known characters of the Bible, her story ministering through the centuries.
In any given group of men and women there will be those whose sexual history is uncomplicated and joyful. For others there may be great sadness over a record of wrong choices, or no choice at all. Rebekah and the unnamed Samaritan women may seem worlds apart. Yet they are united in demonstrating that in all circumstances God loves and esteems his created people and is in the business of redeeming their fallen lives.
God has a plan for every person who desires in repentance and faith to be in relationship with Him. As a shepherd, He will lead each one into the life that He has planned. He is the true lover of our souls, our Creator, Saviour, Counsellor, and so much more. Praise Him.
"To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life." Rev 21:6
Wells gush forth throughout the pages of the Bible. Like many natural features, they are both functional, providing people with water to drink, utilize, claim and fight over; and symbolic. Wells signify God’s provision, life, health, prosperity and cleansing. In passages dripping with a prophetic signature, Jacob rolls a stone away from a well’s mouth to water the sheep (Genesis chapter 29); and David thirsts for water from the well at Bethlehem (2 Samuel 23). Biblically speaking, wells also have a lot to do with women.
Examine the wells in the Bible and there will often be a woman nearby. Women would congregate daily at the local well to collect water, socialize and keep an eye out for anybody new in town. Wells seemingly provided an acceptable place for young men and women to meet and greet one another.
Consider Rebekah in Genesis 24. An opulent- looking emissary and his entourage arrives in town. Rebekah comes to the well with her water jar, generously volunteering to draw water for him and his ten camels, no slight task. This offer is the specific answer to the prayers of Eliezer, Abraham’s servant, sent to find a wife for Abraham's son, Isaac. Rebekah is of the correct kin group, pretty, kind, hard-working, adventurous, and a virgin - a desirable wife to be sure.
Rebekah happily received the gifts of jewelry presented to her and eagerly set forth to marry an unknown stranger. God led Eliezer to the place where Rebekah was waiting, and guided Rebekah into His plan for her life, as she was to play an important role in the foundation of the nation of Israel.
Wells can symbolise sexuality in the Bible. It’s been suggested that the enclosed spring and sealed fountain (fountains and wells being sometimes used interchangeably) described in Song of Songs chapter 4 refer to the anatomy of a virgin. Married couples are advised to drink water from their own well (Proverbs 5) and for those contemplating adultery, Proverbs 23 reminds us that “a wayward wife is a narrow well,” not likely to be a source of delight for very long.
In John’s gospel, chapter 4, we discover another well, one of only a few references to wells and springs in the New Testament, and another woman, the celebrated “Woman at the Well.” This unnamed Samaritan is a very different lady to Rebekah. She too approaches a compelling stranger. His friends have left and he's alone and tired.
The place may be of significance also, for Jacob’s well, back in Genesis 33, refers to a site where Jacob took an easy option and camped near to the Canaanite city of Shechem, resulting in the subsequent rape of his daughter Dinah by the son of a Shechemite ruler, the first rape mentioned in the bible.
The Samaritan woman at the well is no innocent virgin. She sounds intelligent. She discusses spiritual concepts. She was probably beautiful – she certainly had no trouble attracting men. But she’s been around. She wouldn’t ever be seen as a desirable wife. No social life for her. She’s an outcast, gossiped about, likely as not to seduce a husband. She makes the trek for water alone in the afternoon sun.
There’s a man who wants a drink. What thoughts might have run through her mind? Maybe, like Rebekah, she was looking for a different life. What could he offer her? He will even drink from her cup, Samaritan pariah that she is. What does he really want?
Go and get your husband, says Jesus.
I don’t have one.
No, you’ve had five.
I see you’re a prophet.
It’s an interesting exchange. Why did she call him a prophet after he stated the number of “husbands” she’d had? He knew all about her. What’s more, she knew he knew. He knew how many, when, who. Maybe she’d been sexually abused in the past. Maybe she just made bad choices. Maybe she was now looking for number six. Who knows? Jesus did.
Jesus proclaims himself the Messiah to this hurting woman, offering her “living water”. An amazing transformation occurs. For the first time she’s invited to feel clean on the inside, freed from a life of bondage and sin, and in a lasting relationship with someone who loves her unconditionally, faithfully and respectfully.
The outcast is transformed into an evangelist who witnesses to her neighbours. She becomes one of the most well-known characters of the Bible, her story ministering through the centuries.
In any given group of men and women there will be those whose sexual history is uncomplicated and joyful. For others there may be great sadness over a record of wrong choices, or no choice at all. Rebekah and the unnamed Samaritan women may seem worlds apart. Yet they are united in demonstrating that in all circumstances God loves and esteems his created people and is in the business of redeeming their fallen lives.
God has a plan for every person who desires in repentance and faith to be in relationship with Him. As a shepherd, He will lead each one into the life that He has planned. He is the true lover of our souls, our Creator, Saviour, Counsellor, and so much more. Praise Him.
"To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life." Rev 21:6
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