John 4:39-42 “Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of your words that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.” Today's episode is about how important it is to tell our story. It talks about how our story can have the power to bring someone to Jesus. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
They Believed Because Of Her Testimony
John 4:39-42 “Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of your words that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”
I like this verse because it shows how important it is that we talk about our faith and how much God is doing for us. The opening sentence in this verse says, “Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony. What if she didn’t tell anyone what had happened. What if she was too afraid of what others might think to talk about it. She was already and outcast because of her lifestyle. She had 5 different husbands over the yeas and when she met Jesus the man she was currently living with was not her husband. The reason she was getting water at the hottest time of day is because she was too ashamed to get water in the morning when the rest of the women got their water. She did not want to be the center of attention. She didn’t want everyone looking at her and yet she ran to town to tell everyone about Jesus.
I wonder if all those people would have been saved if she was too afraid to tell her story. If she was too afraid to share her excitement over Jesus and what He did for her. The reason I ask is because sometimes I am afraid to share. Sometimes I get a prompting from the Holy Spirit to say something to someone and all this fear and doubt goes through my mind. I wonder what that person will think of me if I say it. I wonder if I will sound crazy or stupid. I wonder if they will even listen or if they will just walk away. I wonder if they will be mean. It sounds like this woman did not think about it at all. She had a conversation with Jesus and then ran right to town to tell everyone about it. I want her courage, her boldness, her humility. Or maybe her impulsiveness if she ran off without even thinking about it. Maybe I need more of that when it come to Jesus. Maybe I just need to act first and think later when it comes to following the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
Have you ever wondered if something you say or do could have this affect on people? It can. It might have already. A lot of times it is for us to plant the seeds but not to see the harvest. We have no idea how our words and actions can affect the course of someone’s life. Sometimes we say something and the person we say it to doesn’t really think much of it, but then down the road they see the significance of it. Think back to all the people that have been influential in your life. Did you know at the time they were going to be so influential? Did you know that advice they gave you was going to shape the kind of person you would become? Are those people still alive? Could you tell them now how influential they were? They may not know.
We don’t usually see the good in us as much as others do. It is an interesting experiment to ask those who know you well to tell you what they see in you, what they feel your strengths are as well as what your weaknesses are. I was reading a book titled “The Miracle Morning” and the author Hal Elrod suggested sending an email to those closest to you, this can include family, friends and co workers. He suggests you email them and ask them to tell you the top 2-3 areas of weakness you may have and then also some areas of strength. He said it is a great way to see if you are living life intentionally and if you are giving off the vibe you want to give off. At the end of the book he gave a sample email to send out. I think if you asked others how they see you, you will be surprised. They will see things in you to admire and look up to and you may not see them.
The verse ends by saying that although the people in the town started to believe in Jesus because of her words, now they believe because they heard Jesus for themselves. I love this part too because I feel it takes the pressure off of me. I just have to tell my story, I just have to talk about what Jesus has done for me and hopefully that will be enough to lead people to find Jesus. It is not my responsibility to make them Christian, to save their soul, to teach them everything they need to know about Jesus. Jesus will do that. It is just my job to tell them about my encounter. If I tell people how God is working in my life, that will be enough to get them to seek God so they can find out more. I truly believe our stories our powerful enough to bring others to Christ and this verse is a great witness to that.
Sometimes we think our story is not big enough, interesting enough, important enough to tell others. We feel we have lived a boring, normal life and so others won’t want to hear about it. This is a lie from the enemy. He knows how important our stories are and he knows others need to hear them. There isn’t a single person that gets through this life without hardships, without struggles. Maybe you feel your struggles are small compared to others and yet someone else might be having the same struggle you had and they feel like it is so overwhelming. God might be doing big amazing things in your life, and that is awesome, tell people about it. God might be doing small, almost unnoticeable things in your life and that is amazing too, tell people about it. There are some people, a lot of people, who don’t know God. They don’t know that the reason everything went so well and things fell into place so nicely is because of God. However, if you tell them about the little ways you see God showing up in your life, they will start to see Him in their life as well.
I know it is hard to speak up sometimes. I know this world doesn’t seem to be super friendly to people who want to talk about Jesus. I know there are a million reasons we can come up with for why we shouldn’t share our story. I know the enemy is whispering in your ear that you don’t have anything to share. He is saying your life is too boring, no one wants to hear about your life. I know all of that and yet if you read this verse hopefully you can see the importance of sharing your story anyway. What if your story was the story someone needs to hear today to find Jesus, or to come back to Jesus? Can we join together and be brave enough to share our story so that we can bring others to know Jesus? Can we do that for God? If you feel like you are not brave enough, I know I am not some days, then ask God for help. He gives us what we ask for, especially if we are asking for things that will help us build up the kingdom of God. How is God working in your life and who can you talk about it with today?
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Please help us to see how you are working in our lives. Please open our eyes to all you do for us and help give us the boldness to share it. Dad, we are asking for you to help us to spread our story to all those we meet so they can start to see you working in their lives. We ask that you help us not to believe the enemies lies that our story is boring, or that we don’t have anything to say. We love you Lord, you are working in our lives and we want to share that with others. We just need your help to do that. Thank you Lord! We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to spending time with you again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!