Do you ever feel like you’ve blown your chance in life, like maybe it’s too late for you or the best of life is behind you? If so, Jesus has a word for you just like He did for someone over 2,000 years ago.
John 4 records that Jesus “had” to travel through Samaria. While it was the shortest route between Jerusalem and Galilee, traveling through Samaria wasn’t truly necessary. And, due to the cultural and historical tensions between Jews and Samaritans, it also wasn’t customary. The Samaritans were an ethnic group of Jews who intermarried with the surrounding non-Jewish people during the time of Israel’s exile to Babylon. Jews despised Samaritans, considering them unclean and despicable. Therefore, religious Jews would ordinarily travel a great distance out of the way to avoid traveling through Samaria and coming into contact with Samaritans.
However, Jesus was on a mission to meet a very important Samaritan…an outcast Samaritan woman.
We aren’t given her name, but we know she was drawing water all alone at noon, enduring the oppressive heat and desert sun, rather than drawing with the other women in the early morning. She likely wasn’t welcomed by the other women. Scripture suggests she may have had a hard life and a scandalous past. She may have thought that she made her choices, whether good or bad, and now she had to face the consequences. She carried the weight of shame and regret she believed her choices had earned. She may have thought her best days – and opportunities – were far behind her.
She could not have expected that what seemed like a chance meeting with a lone Jewish man at the well that day would change her whole life. But it did. Jesus opened up a whole new world for her, a dramatic plot twist in her story. Possibly the most beautiful words He said to her are recorded in the beginning of John 4:10, “Jesus replied, ‘If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to…” (NLT)
If she only knew who stood before her.
If she only knew that God was not done with her yet.
If she only knew that many in her village would be saved because of her testimony.
If she only knew that we would be talking about her over two thousand years later.
Indeed, one encounter with the Truth changed everything. He saw her. He loved her. He wanted her to know her best days were not behind her but ahead. In fact, it was to this otherwise outcast Samaritan woman that Jesus revealed Himself as the Messiah for the first time…not to the religious elite, not to the governing officials, not to the rich or notable men in polite society…to this outcast woman. Scripture records that she told her whole village, and many believed in Jesus because of her testimony. Instead of being an outcast, people listened to her. I think it’s likely that her story ended well despite how it may have begun.
That lonely day when she walked to the well by herself, she probably thought every day for the rest of her life would be just the same. She probably had no hope for a different ending to her life’s story. She may have thought that her choices led her here, and now she was stuck with this sad lot in life. She would have been wrong.
Jesus wasn’t done crafting her story, and He’s not done with your story either. Like this Samaritan woman, you don’t need to have a perfect past to be used mightily by God, and your past doesn’t need to define your future. No matter where the road of life has taken you, your future lies ahead with Him. No matter when or how your story began, you can still finish well.
Friend, can you hear Him saying to you now, “If you only knew…”
- What if you knew that you didn’t need to strive and strain?
- What if you knew that you were deeply loved despite your past mistakes?
- What if you knew that what you see as imperfection is actually evidence that you are fearfully and wonderfully made?
- What if you knew that He has a plan and a purpose for your life that you could not imagine?
No matter where you are now, even a minor course correction could significantly alter the trajectory of your future. Even the smallest of changes can make a big difference, because it’s never too late to start fresh and finish strong!
Reflection Questions:
- In what way do you need a fresh start?
- Do you want a different ending to your story than the path you are on now will take you?
- What one change could you make now that would shift the trajectory of your life for the better?
Prayer
Lord Jesus,
As I step into the new year, I thank You that You are stepping into this year with me. I thank You that You know everything that will happen this year. I thank You that I do not need to walk this path alone. Lord, in 2026, please give me an encounter with You like the Samaritan woman at the well. Please show me where I need a course correction in my life so that I can start today to finish strong. Give me the strength to make the shift from what I’ve known to what You have for me. Walk with me each step of this new year, I pray. Amen.