Woman At The Well

This Olivia Lane tells a powerful story:

I heard a story from the Bible
When I was just a little girl
About a broken-hearted woman
Who met the Savior of the world

Thought it was just another story
One that the preacher man would read
But as I’m sitting here at home
Drinking red wine all alone
I think that woman might be me

‘Cause tonight I feel just like
The woman at the well
Wondering how someone could love me
When I can’t love myself
But You want me as I am and that sounds crazy
I guess maybe that’s why grace is so amazing

Staring at that empty bottle
I swear I caught a glimpse of Him
He met me right there at the bottom
And turned that wine to living water
And taught me how to love again

Olivia reduces a well known Bible story to a few words: ‘A broken-hearted woman who met the Saviour of the world’; she looks at her own situation – alone, and feeling unloved and unlovable. She then brings the two together… She is that woman meeting Jesus.

I recall other narratives where Jesus meets people… hated Zacchaeus, desperate Jairus, blind Bartimaeus; I look at my own life honestly, carefully. I bring the two together and think… That man is me.

She then realises that she can meet Jesus; the woman’s story becomes her story. The Jesus who met and changed a nameless woman can meet and change Olivia, reassuring her that she is loved and lovable. She discovers hope as she enjoys Jesus’ living water. Her life is changed.

I realise that I can be part of the Jesus narrative and meet Him… He can turn round my Zaccheaus-messed-up employment situation… he can bring solutions to my Jairus-impossible family problems… he can transform my Bartimaeus-hopeless physically world. As I encounter Jesus, he changes me.  

Yeah, tonight I feel just like
The woman at the well
Wondering how someone could love me
When I can’t love myself
But You want me as I am and that sounds crazy
I guess maybe that’s why grace is so amazing

It’s no longer just a story when I read it
‘Cause I’ve seen Him for myself and I believe it

Just like the story from the Bible
I heard when I was just a girl
I’m the broken-hearted woman
Who met the Savior of the world