Happy New Year, Illinois Baptist readers! This year marks a pivot for the Brighter Day column. Over the next 12 months, we’ll examine the stories of 12 biblical women. We’ll let their life-changing encounters with God compel us to a fresh commitment to our own churches and communities.
Speaking of community, the first woman in our series has very little company when we first meet her. In fact, she’s alone when Jesus approaches her—conspicuously alone, in the middle of the day. He asks her for a drink, sparking a conversation that covers the fraught relationship between Jews and Samaritans and the woman’s own painful past.
Their meeting ends with an astonished, missional plea from the woman when she returns to town. “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” (John 4:29). Many people in her town believed in Jesus because of her testimony. And then they believed because Jesus himself came to them, leading them to profess, “This really is the Savior of the world.”
At a time of year when we celebrate clean slates and fresh starts, what an example this is! An encounter at the well results in a completely new life for this woman and the people in her town. Living water. A well that will never run dry. No more thirst.
The TV series “The Chosen” told the story of the woman at the well in a way I’d never heard before. In the show, we see her again after her meeting with Jesus, having a meal with him and some of his followers. She’s bubbly and nervous, and there are a few eye rolls from the people around her. You can almost imagine them saying to one another later, “She’s a lot, isn’t she?”
I first saw that scene a few years ago, but it has come back to mind again and again as I’ve thought about how hard it is to settle into a fresh start. Yes, there’s miraculous encounter with God to celebrate. But there is also the reshuffling of norms, the forgiveness of old hurts, and the graciousness required to make room at the table.
For those of us who had a fresh start with Jesus a while ago, the woman at the well’s story can move us to ask some new questions: Where can I add a chair? Who can I invite to Sunday school or small group? What are the sacrifices I can make to include someone new in my circle?
This year, how can we make space for someone’s fresh start?
– Meredith Flynn is a wife, mother of two, and writer living in Springfield. She and her family are active members of Delta Church.