Latrice | Lift Her Up

“You’re so strong.” Have you heard that before? I’m sure every woman I know, including myself, has heard this more times than we can remember. It’s not a bad phrase, but it can feel unnecessary when you’re on the receiving end. Especially when at the moment, strong is the opposite of how we’re feeling at the time. I would argue that my strongest moments are when I’m most aware of my vulnerabilities and weaknesses. Strength can often come from the most unexpected places, and dormant places within ourselves that we didn’t even know existed. God has a way of unlocking the hidden strength of the woman that challenges cultural boundaries and norms. 

The woman at the well, or the Samaritan woman listed in John 4, was an outcast according to cultural standards and shouldn’t have spoken to Jesus. I’m sure she had no idea that God was about to use her strength to advance His kingdom. I can imagine her thinking this was just another trip to the well, another place to be ignored, and unfulfilled. With the wrong lens, the Samaritan woman’s problem can be easily misunderstood. Jesus saw what her heart needed the most: unconditional love and redemption. He saw her sins as symptoms of the real issue, a deep longing for connection. This isn’t just a story about Jesus noticing and saving a culturally low-grade woman. Yes, there is beauty in the way God reacts and treats this woman but the story goes beyond that.

How the Samaritan woman responds after her encounter with Jesus is powerful and should be how we all respond to living water. Her response should trigger us followers of Christ to evaluate how we respond to the call of freedom. Do we go back and cling to what we know? Do we go back to the identity that’s been placed on us from being overlooked, hidden, and rejected? Or, do we go forward to reclaim our freedom which confronts our fears and requires new levels of strength? After she’s offered the solution to her thirst and has been confronted with the truth about her life, she doesn’t go back into solitude where it’s comfortable. She goes into her city and uses two game-changing words, “Come, see”. (John 4:29, NIV) As a social outcast, you can only imagine the anxiety the Samaritan woman felt passing along the message about Jesus and everything He had told her. For her place in society, this was abnormal behavior that could have caused her further isolation. This is the perfect example of how God can use the unlikely and disregarded woman to complete His work. Had this been a popular person with higher status or prestige in society, the message of Jesus possibly would not have been received as widely. But it’s because belief from an unlikely person resonates with the disbelief within us all. The power of testimony transforms our disbelief and says, “If God did it for them, surely He will do it for me.” 

“Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him.”

John 4:28-30 NIV

This story sets the tone for what testimony should look like and what it requires. Testimony requires courage and assurance in what we have experienced God doing in and through our lives. The woman at the well had an encounter with Jesus that fueled her to step out and go beyond her reputation. Like the Samaritan woman, I’ve dealt with rejection from society that has led me to isolation and self-deprecation in the past. And when I begin to feel myself slipping back into that space, this story reminds me that I’ve been created to push back against the world’s traditions. And the truth is, we are strong even when it doesn’t feel like it. When others see where the source of our strength comes from they will grab hold of it and use it to overcome their trials. Our strength is a living testimony and a waving banner for all to see.