Nothing To Draw Water With

" For with God nothing shall be impossible."   Luke 1:37

" God is looking for people through whom He can do the impossible. What a pity that we plan only the things we can do by ourselves." --- A.W. Tozer

The Apostle John records an incident in the 4th chapter of his gospel in Sychar, a city in Samaria. In the heat of the day, a Samaritan woman comes to the community well to draw water. A Jewish man is sitting on the well, and as she approaches, He asked her for a drink. She is shocked at His request for two reasons: men didn't speak to women in public, and the Jews hated the Samaritans. In essence, her reply to Him was, "Why do you ask me for a drink? I am a woman and a Samaritan."

Jesus replied, "If you knew Who was asking for a drink, you would have asked Me, and I would have given you living water." The woman responded, "Sir, Thou hast  nothing  to draw with, and the well is deep."

The woman was stating the obvious. She didn't know she was talking to the Son of God. "You have nothing to draw with," she said to the One the Psalmist said, "He causes the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth."   Psalm 135:7 

From her point of view, there were two significant hurdles to overcome. She stated the  scope  of the problem; the well was too deep. She noted the apparent  lack  of provision; He had nothing to draw with.

The Samaritan woman was only doing what people down through the ages have done when faced with seemingly impossible situations - limiting the Infinite to our finite understanding.

When told she would conceive a child in her old age, Sarah laughingly asked, "Shall I of a surety bear a child when I am old?"

Upon hearing that he was God's choice to confront Pharaoh, Moses responded to the Great I Am, "I am not eloquent, but I am slow of speech."

When Jesus told His disciples to feed the five thousand men plus women and children, it was late in the evening, and they were in a desert place. There was no place to buy food. The disciples looked at the  scope  of the problem; too many people. They took note of the  lack  of provisions; five loaves of bread and two small fish. They said to The Bread of Life, "Send them away that they may buy food."

The automobile genius Henry Ford once came up with a revolutionary plan for a new kind of engine, which we know today as the V-8. Ford was eager to get his incredible new idea into production. He had his plans drawn up and presented them to his engineers. As they studied the drawings, one by one, they came to the same conclusion; their visionary boss just didn't know much about engineering. They gently told him his dream was impossible.

Ford said, "Produce it anyway!" They replied, "But it's impossible!" "Go ahead," Ford commanded, "and stay on the job until you succeed, no matter how much time is required." For months they struggled with drawing after drawing and design after design. They kept telling Ford that what he was asking for was impossible, but he just told them to keep going. It took over a year, but Henry Ford finally got his V-8 engine.

Henry Ford got what he wanted because he had confidence in his vision and the ability of his engineers. He got what he asked for because he would not accept the word  impossible !

As Christians, we know what God can do. There is nothing impossible for Him. His power is infinite. But God does not want us to place our faith in  what  He   can do. He wants us to put our faith in  Who  He is!

Faith is not intelligent understanding. It does not even depend upon  my  understanding. Faith is a deliberated commitment to a Person -- the Lord Jesus Christ! If the woman of Samaria had known who Jesus was, she would not have worried for one second over the depth of the well or the lack of a bucket to draw water with.

There is no more extraordinary Biblical example of faith than Job. Everything in Job's life contradicted what He knew about God. Yet, the most inspiring expression of faith in the Bible was spoken by Job, "Though He slay me,  yet  will I trust Him."  Job 13:15a

A young boy traveling by plane to visit his grandparents sat beside a man who happened to be a seminary professor. The boy was reading a Sunday school paper, and the professor thought he would have some fun with him. "Young man," said the professor, "If you can tell me something God can do, I will give you a big, shiny apple." The boy thought for a moment and then replied, "Mister, if you can tell me something God  can't  do,  I'll give you a whole barrel of apples!"

No wonder God wants us to trust Him with the faith of a little child!

The church is facing many things. COVID cases are spiking again this summer. The world is not a good place right now, and people are hurting. Don't limit God. Don't bring Him down to your finite understanding. Don't look at God through your circumstances, but look at your circumstances through  Whom  He says He is.

Charles Spurgeon said,  "I would recommend you either believe God up to the hilt or else, not to believe at all. Believe this Book of God, every letter of it, or else, reject it. There is no logical standing place between the two. Be satisfied with nothing less than a faith that swims in the deep of revelation; a faith that paddles about the edge of the water is poor faith at best."

We have  something  to draw from -- the depth of God's Word!

We have  Someone  to draw from -- our Infinite Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!