See The Need

Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” — John 4:16-18

Jesus made a profound offer to this woman in the interaction just prior to this. "Living water" or spiritual life. But she missed his offer because she is so stuck in seeing from a natural perspective. So Jesus will awaken her spiritual sense by poking at a wound. A relational wound. An emptiness disguised by repetitive sin. It's her desire for human relationship. So he instructs her to "go get her husband," knowing she doesn't have one. In fact, she has been through a few men and is with a man who is not her husband — which makes her a fornicator.

But what Jesus does here is so loving. He pokes a wound that has grown calloused. She is so stuck in the natural that he will shave off the callous and make her aware of her spiritual need. The wound is there. It's been there for years. She has ignored it, yet Jesus knows it has been festering for years. All Jesus does is expose it so the sensitivity will return, and her spiritual awareness will turn on. And why does he do this? He wants her to understand that his offer of spiritual life is what she has been seeking.

Pain is one of our great teachers. Through painful wounds, we make spiritual connections and realize our need for proper healing. Unfortunately, we need this pain to learn that our natural efforts and solutions eventually stop working. Like this woman had to learn, it was not a natural relationship that would provide her the safety, provision, comfort, and companionship she longed for. It was a supernatural one. It was Jesus.

So today, I want you to do three things. First, get honest with yourself about a pain in your life that points you to a need for spiritual healing. Second, bring this to Jesus and seek spiritual healing for the wounds and the pain. And third, see these same needs in others and then point them to Jesus as well.

ASK THIS: What is the pain that is driving you to Jesus?

DO THIS: Present it to Jesus.

PRAY THIS: Jesus, heal me from this pain. I need spiritual healing and your living water in my life.

PLAY THIS: Living Water.