include God in the Stories you tell yourself

There's a story in the bible (John 4:1-42) about a woman - we don't ever get her name - but we know she was a woman living in a culture where women were demeaned and disregarded, she was of a race traditionally despised by the Jews, and she was a social outcast - rejected by the people in her town.

One day, in the heat of the afternoon, the woman goes to a local well to draw water. No one else in town even considered going out in those temperatures. She knew this was when there was little chance of bumping into the neighbors - of facing the looks and the whispers - of being overwhelmed by shame.

Only, she did encounter someone there. She crossed paths with a man who by all societal expectations should have had nothing to do with her. But a man who would change her life - and the lives of an entire town.

She crossed paths with Jesus.

In their conversation, Jesus talked to her about forgiveness and grace and eternal life. Jesus talked to her about things in her life no one else could possibly know - or feel - or understand. She encountered someone who accepted her.

The parts of her life other people had shamed her for, Jesus loved her beyond them.

But here's the part of that story that always blows my mind.

Completely. Blows. My. Mind.

This town of people who had disowned this woman - when she came back and told them about her conversation with Jesus - they all wanted to meet him too. The woman who had been kicked completely out of this town's life somehow convinced that same town to believe in Jesus?

How in the holy name of Jesus did THAT happen?

I think the town saw a woman so changed by her conversation with Jesus they had to go find the source of that change for themselves. THEY were asking how in the holy name of Jesus did that happen.

In that conversation at the well, I don't think this woman was moved nearly as much by the words Jesus said as she was by the connection the words drew her in to. A connection that made her believe in herself - see herself - in a way no one else had ever allowed her to.

I think that connection came out loud and clear when she talked to the people in town after talking to Jesus. I think they saw who she'd become - a woman of confidence - free of shame and guilt. A woman no longer comfortable living in hiding.

They saw this and felt this far more than they heard any words she was saying.

This past Sunday, I went for a long drive. When you drive by yourself for 6 hours you can start telling yourself stories about your life. Not all of them leave you feeling good.

We don't always tell ourselves good stories.

Often that's because we convince ourselves we're an outcast at the well, and not someone Jesus would show up and talk to there.

But at the end of that drive, I took a long walk in the woods. Through the beauty of that walk, and the stories of the people I encountered there, I heard Jesus saying, welcome to the well. I'm glad you're here.

And here's the thing. Like the woman at the well, it wasn't the words Jesus said, it was how drawn to him I felt on the other side of those words.

It was the acceptance. It was the feeling of being loved and adored.

On the drive home, I picked up right where I left off telling myself stories about myself. Only this time, I was reminded to include God in those stories.

We often get to feeling life is going to throw us down a well instead of pull us up out of it. Often, that's because we're telling ourselves stories about ourselves that God would NEVER tell us.

Sunday, I was reminded to include God in the stories I tell myself. And to make sure I hang out at the well with people who will tell me the kind of stories about my life that God would tell me.

People who will tell me I'm not here waiting on you to be okay - waiting on you to become the kind of person I'd like to hang out at the well with - because the truth is, I think you already are....