By Alise Weber — This has been a unique time for all of us. I remember talking to my mom on the phone in early March and joking that I might as well buy toilet paper and canned goods, just in case. After all, even if I didn’t need those items, I could always begin assembling that emergency supply stash that we are all supposed to have. I had heard the quiet rumblings of panic and I couldn’t ignore them.
As the weeks passed, the amount of information regarding COVID-19 came like a tornado, whirling around, destroying “normal”, and leaving a lot of devastation in its wake. Like many around the world, I was glued to the news. Facebook showed images of Italy, a few steps ahead of us, and on complete lock down. Worry settled in.
It was during this time that I reread the story of Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman at the well. Jesus simply asked her for a drink of water. It was a basic request, but the woman at the well complicated the request by mentioning the fact that Jewish people were not typically friends with Samaritans. In the Gospel of John 4:10, “Jesus said, ‘If you only knew the free gift of God and who it is that is asking you for water, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.’” I love those words, “living water.” I realized that just as water is absolutely essential to our human bodies, the “living water” from Jesus Christ is absolutely essential in our Christian life. Amidst all the news flashes, panic and disruption, I had forgotten to fill myself with the promises and hope offered to each of us in the Bible. As my eyes turned from the world and towards God, that growing worry faded away, and I felt restored.
We all need to remember, amidst the panic, in the middle of the storm and through it, God offers us all living water. Let’s remember to “drink” and be renewed.
“On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” (John 7:37-38)
—Alise Weber is Children’s & Family Ministry Pastor at Littleton Adventist Church
