DO YOU EVER WATCH A movie or read a book and just wonder how the characters can be so blind? Of course, the butler was the murderer, or of course the shopkeeper was the secret admirer or of course the neighbor was an evil witch all along. I often feel the same way even when reading the Bible. Why would the people of Israel turn to idols repeatedly? Why would they grumble about being uncomfortable in the desert when they had just been freed from slavery?
I know I’m guilty of the same exact thing in my own life, and it comes down to that one word: perspective. I see things from my limited point of view, from inside the crisis of the moment. The living room is so messy that I’ll never be able to get it cleaned up. The kids are behaving so badly that I must be a horrible mother. I fall into the same sin again immediately after confession, so I must be a terrible sinner unworthy of God’s love.
The Samaritan woman at the well must have been feeling some of that unworthiness. It brought her to the well in the middle of the day to avoid her neighbors’ gossip. She was so caught up in the shame of her sin that she couldn’t see any way for her story to bring God’s glory. But from Jesus’ perspective, she was a beloved daughter of God. She was broken by an imperfect past but destined for great things because she would have the opportunity to witness the coming of the Messiah in a powerful way. I’m reminded of the poem The Weaver by Grant Colfax Tullar, made popular by Corrie ten Boom.
My life is but a weaving
Between my God and me.
I cannot choose the colours
He weaveth steadily.
Oft’ times He weaveth sorrow;
And I in foolish pride
Forget He sees the upper,
And I the underside.
Not ’til the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly,
Will God unroll the canvas
And reveal the reason why.
The difficulties we face in our darkest moments are a part of our glory story. Some of the greatest saints have started out as some of the greatest sinners. Take St. Paul, St. Mary of Egypt or St. Augustine. The tapestry of their lives declares the merciful plan of their redeemer. The difficulties of the Israelites in the desert were part of the greater story, allowing God to show His power by bringing water from the rock.
The Samaritan woman’s sinful past was a part of her greater story, allowing her to be at the right place at the right time, to be the first to hear Jesus profess to be the Messiah and to tell the world, “Come see a man who told me everything I have done.” My daily perspective is filled with complaints about my current situation, and helplessness over the things I wish I could control. I have a habit of facing every problem with a desire to solve it myself, instead of growing the instinct to turn to God for help and His perspective.
What discomfort are you facing right now? If you turned to God’s perspective instead of your own temporal one, would you hear his voice telling you that he will never give you anything you can’t handle with his help?
“For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11)