The Woman at the Well

Alena  talks to us about the Woman at the Well and how  she teaches us to no longer be thirsty !

 She answers the question for the week and how not confronting her thoughts led her to  into a battle. 
 
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Transcript

Alena  0:22  
Hi, it's me Alena, the creative Her Alabaster. I'm a wife and a mother. God has me on this journey called life. I'm hoping to encourage women through life's experiences of myself and other women. So please join me every Sunday, as we have candid conversations about life and our personal experiences, how we can have the courage to be vulnerable, facing it, while God unfolds our purpose. Are you ready for this week? I'm not, but I'm giving it to Jesus. This week, we'll be talking about the woman at the well because, you know, I don't want us to be thirsty anymore, and see how we can face these shortcomings in our life, you know, desperate is not a good look. But before we get into that, here's my response to the question of the week. And if you missed it, I asked what were the thoughts you were having in your head? And are you ready to confront them? I'm not sure if I'm ready to answer the questions in my head. I believe events and circumstances situations force us to confront our thoughts, which are never voluntary. A part of this, I believe, is God's grace, which is sufficient. So what I mean is, for some people, it takes years of the same cycle for them to confront their thoughts for me, I made a decision to look at the motives behind my actions. I have become intentional and realize that my thoughts, they do drive my actions, which made me look at why I was having those thoughts. When my parents separated, I began to think about how I did not want to be hurt in a relationship. So I decided I could satisfy a natural need given by God through masturbation and pornography, which we know is not of God, and a whole discussion on its own, which led to an addiction. The addiction started with a thought that was not confronted. If I had confronted this thought with the Word of God, and trusted him to remove the fear and the seed of hurt, he would have shown me how to deal with this in a healthy way instead of having to now battling addiction. So refusing or choosing to consciously or unconsciously confront your thoughts, it could lead to dysfunction, hurt, bad habits, and even more pain. Well, that was a lot, right? This week, we're talking about the woman at the well. I thought it only fitting to start with her since she birth these conversations. If you don't know the story, I'm going to tell my version, but I advise you to read it. And you can find the story in john chapter four, four through 26. So Jesus had just come from a long trip. And as he was reviewing his schedule, he realized that he had the Samaritan woman circled in for that day. But he knew his disciples would be judging her because of her background or how she looked or where she was from, you know, the Jews didn't mix like that. So he told them, You know, I want to take a race at Jacobs. Well, go ahead and the city, get some food. man came along this beautiful lady. That's how I see her to draw water from the well. Jesus said to her, can you pour me a drink of water? And she was like, excuse me, sir. Do you know me? You a Jew, who don't like people like me? And to top it off? I'm a woman. She's a said hello. Do you know who I am? Because if you knew you would be asking me for water. Suppose you knew what I could do for you miss, I can transform you from the inside out. All those things that leave you wanting more. This water I have will leave you quenched. She was like really? I'll take some of that. He was like really watch this. Go call your husband. She was like, I don't have a house. When Jesus said, I know about the five, and the one you're with, is not even your man. She was like, Wow,

Alena  5:09  
did someone tell you my business? Or you must be a prophet? Tell me some more. I can imagine she was like, all in his face now like, I need to know more. As Jesus continued on with the lady, the disciple started to arrive, and we're like, What is he doing talking to this lady. But they weren't bold enough to x. The lady after so much information, she went back into town and was telling everybody about this man who told her about her past, and this living water that he had. That's the lane his version of the woman at the well, or the Samaritan woman. But remember, I said to go read it in john 443 26. You know, as I think of the woman at the well, the first thing that comes to mind is her five husbands, I'm not sure why. Maybe I'm like the disciples and judging her. I mean, really, I'm not Jesus, nor am I in a position to judge what happened in our life. But it does remind me of how our shortcomings are seemingly always magnified. When I was making the decision to add the woman at the well, every time I started talking about her, I was embarrassed for Why though? Why do we look down on another one women who we believe have made mistakes or have blemishes on their lives? I'm not sure why. But I felt embarrassed that she had five husbands and that the one she was with was not on. Is this why sometimes women suffer in silence. I remember when I was coming up with this women for Her Alabaster, I was telling the story to a lady I met on a retreat and how I was really struggling to add a Samaritan woman story because of the fear I had attached to her. And as she listened, she asked me what's, uh, some of her life about her five husbands? No. And didn't we all have blemishes in our lives because we look towards the wrong thing or person instead of God. But I didn't want women to be embarrassed about their past, but to know that it's a part of this story. And we all have a path, right? This set off a chain of questions within me and I started to ask myself, why as women? Were we embarrassed about what society considered past mistakes? That made me start to question myself. Why are we shunning another woman's mistake? Didn't Jesus say, when we ask for forgiveness, it goes to the sea of forgetfulness. If his grace is sufficient, who gives us the right to have an opinion when we are all blemished? What times in my life was I embarrassed about what society would say that I wasn't willing to share or able to get help? What were the areas that I was looking to the world to solve for me that left me thirsty, when I should be going to God for society is really good at shaming us and holding us to our pasts. But it's not where we should look for answers or guidance. Society isn't able to give us the individual or specific answers our soul is longing for. When we look to society, we often are left feeling empty, and in some cases, misguided. The answers we are searching for can only come from God. It's the reason we should take our thoughts to him. Let's be honest, he has never failed us get and thirsty is not a good luck. So let's be like the woman or the well drinking from from his living water. So here's the question of the week is your expectations of God based on your current circumstances. I'll give you my response next week, but I would love to hear yours. We will be meeting Sarah we're in a great faith next week. So don't forget your podcast drop every Sunday on Apple, Spotify and amazon music. You can find us on Instagram at her closet conversations and me yet, Her Alabaster. Please leave a review. If you enjoy today's episode, and don't forget to like, subscribe and share. Until next week, keep faking it