I wrote this back in Mozambique while we were doing ministry there. One of the first weeks we went out to a small village to do some work with the community and help build a school. Here is what we experienced…
Up, down. Up, down. My arms are tired, my back is sore, and we still have four more to go. I think I’ve counted about 65 consecutive movements to reach the quota for one container. All around me mostly women and children wait in order to perform the same ritual… one that they’ve done their whole lives, every single day.
I however, am a newbie at this.
I did something today that I had never done before in my life.
I pumped water from a well, deep in the ground.
Then we begin the long process of carrying the water back to homes. If you don't have a wheel barrow, you will carry a 5-gallon container on your head.
I certainly lack that skill (I can't carry much of anything on my head)
In America, unless you choose otherwise, we have ready access to water through our local cities. When we want our water we simply go to the faucet, turn the tap and then pure, clean water flows forth without any effort from us whatsoever.
The other reality, one that has shaken me to my core, is the one of struggle within the Third World to get water on a daily basis.
Not even clean water.
Just water.
Thanks to this experience I have been given a new perspective on the Christian life, in large part due to one of Jesus’ parables. In many ways, I have come to believe that life in the Western world does Christians a disservice when it comes to understanding Christ’s teachings. I know what you must be thinking, “Julie, how can you say that it is a problem to live where we do?” but please bear with me here. I can say that while growing up in America, I have been very blessed and fortunate, but the reality of it is that many of us don’t get it. We don’t get agricultural terms (unless we’re farmers), we don’t get the stories about raising sheep (unless we raise animals ourselves) and we don’t get everyday Biblical situations. We have become blinded and ignorant thanks to our privileged lives in America.
Before today I had heard and read of Jesus’ conversation with the woman at the well, but my understanding was merely on surface level. I now understand what he was talking about and how crucial it is to our walk of faith. I now know that pumping water is hard work, and that here in Africa as well as many other places in the world, the ritual of getting water is a daily, time consuming activity. That’s where Jesus comes in. When he talked to the woman at the well about springs of living water, it would be like in our present day talking to an African about running water in your house.
Spiritually, before we come into a relationship with God through Christ we are like the Third World. We make a daily trek to our “well”, whether that is another faith, money, alcohol, drugs, sex, material things, etc., and we draw up as much as we can to hopefully make it through the day. We are seeking to quench a thirst that cannot be satisfied by worldly things. In seeking to quench this thirst we get tired, sore, sun burned, and covered in dirt. We might encounter disaster on the way back to our homes and lose some of the precious water that we’d just spent most of our day retrieving.
Once we come into relationship with God, the Spring of Living Water is ours for the taking. No longer must we journey daily to the well of never-satisfying desires. We now have living water which will quench our thirst. Living water that will never go dry. We become spiritually equipped to handle all situations because of our access to God's throne by the sacrifice that Jesus made on the Cross. When you think about it, water is the most essential of all things that we need. All living things require water in some form or another. With Jesus as our well, we can rest assured that in the spiritual realm we will be satisfied. Now, don't get me wrong. The Christian life is still life in a fallen world and therefore we will have struggles in this world, yet He has overcome the world! We can run to Him at any hour of the day for refreshment and encouragement! What an awesome God we serve!
