Last time we shared a
conversation between Leah and Moses who both learned that only when they really
let go of their agendas was God able to work. Like them we try and try to make
‘our way’ work out. But then we discover we are hanging by a fraying rope and
hoping that it doesn’t break, rather like this story:
There was a
monastery high on a cliff. The only access was by way of riding in a basket
which several monks hauled up to the top. Obviously the ride over the rocky
jagged terrain was steep, and in a wicker basket it was terrifying to all but
the naively fearless. One visitor, however, got exceedingly nervous. Roughly halfway
up he saw that the rope by which he was being hauled was rather frayed and
splitting. Shaking in his boots but unable to move, he frantically asked the
monk who was seated next to him how often they changed the rope. Thinking for a
moment, the monk answered, "whenever it breaks."
Miriam in the Old Testament and
the Samaritan Woman in the New are two women who know a bit about frayed ropes
and what happens when they break.
Miriam, as Moses’ sister was
important to the Children of Israel during the Exodus. You may recall she led
the victory dance after the Red Sea crossing (Exodus 15:20-21). However, when she tried to prove
who was a better leader and more in control, she found herself exiled outside
the camp with leprosy. (Numbers 12:1-15)
The Samaritan Woman (John 4:7-30)
had clearly been trying to get her life in order and be in control of it for a
long time. Jesus tells her “You have had 5 husbands and the one you have now is
not your husband.” She has had extremely bad luck with husbands, for whatever
reason. In a world where a woman was dependent on the man in her life, this was
not a good thing. In fact, she is reduced to living with a man she isn’t
married to in order to get that protection.
Miriam and the Samaritan Woman
were looking for power and security in the wrong place. Miriam was angry
because Moses seemed to have all the power, and she felt he misused it because
he “married a Cushite woman.” She forgot that it was God who was really in
control of the Exodus until she and Aaron are confronted by the Lord. “Come
out, you 3, to the tent of meeting,” God says. He then reminds them that “with
[Moses] I speak face to face…and he beholds the form of the Lord.”
Miriam is reminded that God is
in control “when the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, Miriam was
leprous, as white as snow.” This dread disease was feared in the ancient world
and anyone with it was an outcast. So, she is “shut up outside the camp 7
days…and the people did not set out on the march till Miriam was brought in
again.” During that time, she learned to trust God a bit more and to control her pride.
The Samaritan Woman, too, is an
outcast in the community. She comes to draw water at the sixth hour rather than
in the early morning like the other women of Sychar. Being considered perhaps a
pariah (or at least gossiped about as immoral) because of her lifestyle gave
her the opportunity to meet Jesus and engage in a theological conversation with
him.
First he asks her for a drink,
much to her amazement. “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman
of Samaria?” That a man and a
Jewish man, at that, spoke to her at all was cause to be astonished!
Jesus responds by saying he can
give ‘living water.’ To her mind living water is running water (like a spring
or well) rather than well water and she knows there is not a spring nearby. The
woman is confused even more when he announces, “whoever drinks of the water
that I shall give will never thirst; the water that I shall give will become a
spring of water welling up to eternal life.” She desires this, even though she
really doesn’t understand. Jesus goes on to tell her that “true worshippers
will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the such the Father seeks to
worship him.”
Both Miriam and the Samaritan
Woman encounter God when the frayed rope of ‘being in control’ snapped and they
found themselves outcast from their community. I’ll bet there are times you have
felt like an outcast, too.
God comes to each of us when we
feel that we’ve reach a point of no return-be it a job loss, or health crisis,
or faith challenge. Look around-God is right there waiting to give you living
water and heal the leprosy. Just today I read a blog post that puts it all in
perspective:
“So go get the milk and take out the trash and throw in the laundry and wave
giddy to the neighbors because there is a plan and there is a
purpose and there is a God in heaven who didn’t just ink you onto the
palm of His hands but etched your name
right into Himself with nails and He’s
hasn’t just got your number, He’s got your heart. He sees you, hidden
in Him, and you aren’t ever forgotten because God can’t forget those right in
Him. You’ve never missed the boat when you’re holding onto the Cross.So really — you’ve got to believe it for your 16 year-old-self and 56 year-old-self and for yourself right now: really, it’s all working out okay.
Because God’s writing your story and He never leaves you alone in your story, and His perfect love absorbs all your fear and His perfect grace carries all your burdens, and your story is a happily ever after because Christ bought your happily ever after so you always know how this story ends:
You’re going to be okay.”
(you can read the rest here)
Next time we'll look at what can happen when you really let God be in control. For one thing you don't have to worry about the loose ends of fraying ropes that leave us feeling frightened and out of control!
