^{“Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.'”John 4:10}

Dear Faithful and Fearless Seed-Sowers,

During the world-wide pandemic it is my prayer that the Lord would bless you and keep you in His unfailing love.  May Jesus meet you at the well of living water as you work your way through this unprecedented time of covid-19. This week I pray that we learn that God shows up during our ordinary days and when we least expect Him to.

GOD SHOWS UP ON ORDINARY DAYS
As I read the living word of God, I am always amazed at how God shows up on ordinary days. The purpose? To surprise you. Jesus met Peter and Andrew in their fishing boat getting ready to do their job–fish. Matthew (Levi) was at his tax collector’s booth doing his job: collecting taxes. I love this story of the woman at the well; she was not at a big, Jewish festival or at a concert in the local synagogue. She wasn’t away in the mountains on a private retreat.  The woman at the well was going out in the middle of the day in order to draw water from the well so that she could cook, clean, and do her ordinary tasks. She went out to get the water her many jobs at home required. We are not told how many people are in her household. We are not told how far she had to walk but we are told that she went out around the 6^th hour (midday or the hottest part of the day) high noon. From the dialogue with Jesus, we know she had had 5 husbands and was living with a man who was not her husband. What we know about the Jewish culture of that day, if the woman went to well in the early morning, she would have been around all the women of town who were also getting water. The woman waited. She did not want to join the companh of the other women. My guess is she knew that they knew about her. They might look disgustingly at her and whisper about her.  The other women would shame her and ridicule her.

Instead, the unnamed woman comes out at the hottest part of the day, noon, and she is carrying two jars of water on her shoulders. Big, heavy clay jars. Her family and her household needed water. There was bathing to do, washing dishes to do, and cooking to do–just to name a few of her responsibilities. The woman arrived at the well not expecting a thing.

Don’t miss it: Today is just another ordinary day! {I think we call those days, “Monday!”}

Something amazing happens. On this very ordinary day, Jesus is waiting for her at the well of her ordinary life. How I have been hoping and praying for you to be surprised at the well of your ordinary life this series.

SOMETIMES GOD SHOWS UP WHEN WE LEAST EXPECT HIM
Expect the Unexpected is a familiar theme in the scriptures.

-Abram becoming a father at 99 years old.
-Moses coming across a burning bush.
-Joshua called to lead the people after Moses dies.
-Ruth who follows her mother-in-law., Naomi, “Your people will be my people and your God will be my God.”
-Boaz, the Kinsman Redeemer, lets Ruth glean his fields.
-How about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego trapped in a fiery furnace with a fourth man in the fire?
-Daniel in the lion’s den.
-Jonah swallowed and in the belly of whale for three days.
-David facing a giant of a man over nine feet tall with a slingshot and five smooth stones.

The list is long. I believe with all of my heart that God loves to show up when you least expect it. Ordinary with Jesus is extraordinary.

Can we relate? It’s 2020.

Maybe you are facing a giant today with Covid-19.  Maybe the quarantine has you defeated and depressed. Maybe your finances are being depleted.  Maybe a relationship has fallen apart.

The GOOD NEWS FOR YOU FOR TODAY:
Expect the Unexpected.

I always will ask you to put yourself into the story we study.  Today is no exception. Maybe you are one of the people who is at home. WAITING. “What’s taking her so long? I need to get to my meeting.”  Maybe you’re one of Jesus disciples; waiting for a miracle.

The story of the unnamed woman at the well is your story. It’s my story.

Every beautiful morning, we wake up. What’s your routine? I’ll tell you mine: I check my phone to see if I have any messages from the church. I use the rest room. Brush my teeth. Make coffee. Stand around and try to wake up.

Go ahead. What’s your ordinary morning routine?

Okay. STOP.

Suddenly, in the middle of your ordinary morning, there’s Jesus. What’s He saying?

“Give me a drink.”

Would you? I want you to know that if you will let yourself be interrupted on this very ordinary day, it won’t be just coffee that you share. If you listen closely, you will be sharing LIVING WATER from the wellspring of eternal life. Let me give you a really fun example.

For the past 230 days my wife and I have cared for her Dad.  We’ve been his 24/7 caregivers.  It’s a whole lot of work. Recently, we found a wonderful woman whom we’ve hired for respite care. Twice a month my wife and I are going to go sleep in a hotel and rest.  Those are two things we don’t usually get to do these days of caregiving: SLEEP. REST.

We just got home today from our three days, and two glorious nights away. We sat on the beach all day. Let me clarify. Jac sat on the beach. I threw seaweed back into the ocean. We saw dolphins play in the morning. We enjoyed a two-hour sunset each night. We shared a filet mignon meal each night. Our TV didn’t work. Jac napped. I read. It was 98 degrees back home and smoky. It was 65 degrees on the beach, foggy.

Two weeks prior to making our hotel reservations, two friends called to ask what exact days we were going away.  They had the name of a great hotel they knew about and they wanted to see if it had vacancies.

So What?
I do not know what you are facing in this time of Covid-19.  Maybe you face loneliness, illness, homesickness. Maybe you are missing school, or work.  Maybe you are missing family. Maybe you have a loved one in the hospital or assisted living home. Maybe today you are just going to take your chances; you are going to go late to the well. You have a million things to do. You’re just going to run to the well, get the water and go home. It’s an ordinary day.

You plus your ordinary day equals an ordinary day.

You plus JESUS standing at the well of your ordinary day makes for quite an extraordinary day!

Your homework for this week is to sit with this question:

AM I REALLY WILLING FOR JESUS TO MEET ME AT MY ORDINARY WELL?

On the first day that my wife sat on her towel at the ocean, four sets of dogs came running over to her. Each of the four dog owners were like, “We’re so sorry.  Our dog never does this.  Our dog is shy. I’ve never in my life seen my dog run over to a perfect stranger.” One of the dogs came and sat down right by my wife.  I missed the whole thing.  He licked her face! Sat down. Then laid down. The owner ran over and called the dog, “Chase.  Chase.” The dog didn’t move. The man apologized profusely for barging in on her morning. Jac, as only Jac can say, told the man, “Your dog was sent by God to stand at the dry well of my ordinary day.” After the man left, somewhat perplexed by her comment, Jac told me, “Dave, Jesus chased me down–just like the woman at the well.  He saw her. He waited. He gave her a drink of living water.” I was somewhat perplexed by my wife at the moment.  She turned and yelled over her shoulder, “CHASE. The dog’s name was Chase. I didn’t have to chase God. God chased me.”

Are you ready for God to chase you? Are you ready for Jesus to turn your ordinary day into something more?

Something extraordinary? That’s my prayer for you this week.

God loves you and so do I,
Pastor Dave
www.theseedchristianfellowship.com

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