God Finds You

Many people are in search of something more in life. We look around and wonder, “Is this all there is? I wake up, go to work (or school) and return home, only to wake up the next day to repeat it all over again? There HAS to be more to life than just daily chores.” This void we feel is filled by all sorts of things differently for all sorts of people. But in the end, whether we fill the void with a social life out on the town, or by getting involved in various groups, we find often find ourselves thirsting for more.

In today’s Gospel we hear about a woman who was thirsty. She had gone out to draw water out of the well at NOON, the hottest time of the day, when she discovered there was more to life than just chores. Waiting for her was Jesus Christ Who said to her, “Give me a drink.” (John 4.7) At the moment, she had no idea who she had encountered at the well. She had no idea that her life was about the change. In fact, she was a bit confused. She said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (John 4.9)

What the Samaritan woman did not realize, and what most of us do not realize is that when we are searching for more purpose in life, God will find us. Jesus was waiting for her, and in the moments that followed, He revealed Himself to her. “I Who speak to you and He.” (John 4.26) Through her willingness to enter into a relationship with Christ, although briefly in the heat of that day, she found meaning in life. Her response was to run back to town and tell everyone, “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” (John 4.29)

We often don’t like to admit it, but our life can sometimes feel like we’re standing in the desert at NOON looking for water. Our continual search to fill the void in our life through work, social gatherings, or other more dangerous substances and activities, leaves us thirsty in the desert. The Samaritan Woman had lived an unstable life, having had several husbands even living unmarried with a man, when she met Christ.

Our struggle may be different than her struggle, but we still thirst. We still wake up, go to work, return home, only to wake up the next day and start all over again. Our path may lead to a different life than her life, but we still find ourselves standing in the desert hoping to find refreshment for our bodies and souls. We still search for more in life. Where is Christ?

Christ is waiting for us in the Church. When we leave the commotion of our daily lives and enter the Church to drink from the Cup of Salvation, which is Holy Communion, God will find us. He in fact is waiting for us, just like He was waiting for her. He said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” (John 4.10) She said, and we should say, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst.” (John 4.15)