Jesus Speaks to Women: Just as I am

19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 

John 4: 19-20

"Someday, I don't know when or I don't know why or how, you will be glad you have a Mom like me who is not afraid of being aggressive."  I know, I was just trying to justify, in the worst possible way, my hot-tempered tendencies to my kids when I told them this a couple of days ago.  But, I wonder if there isn't a grain of truth in this thought after all?

In the previous verses, we saw Jesus confronting the Samaritan woman about her promiscuity and lack of stability regarding men.  Here, we see the woman doesn't just quietly face the truth contained in Jesus' words, but, she cleverly spins it...hmmm...

I have expressed how I see this woman as a sassy person, full of spunk, not afraid to go toe-to-toe with anybody, even Jesus!  And, although we see her acknowledging the power that she is witnessing right in front of her, she doesn't lose who she is.  The same, old spunk is still there, and we see a glimmer of it in her words above.  I mean, she has just been found.  And, what does she do?  After politely noticing Jesus' ability to see through her: "I know you know what I'm about, Sir..." she basically changed the topic: "So...tell me about worshiping..."

What?  

Well, the way I see it, this is no ordinary, submissive, let-everyone-walk-all-over-her-type of woman.  She is a fighter.  She has been fending for herself her whole life, probably.  She has been on her own forever, just watching man after man use her, abuse her and pass her by, yet still...she keeps on keeping on.  I see her as a survivor of life's many struggles.  Yeah, she avoids the town gossips so she goes to the well at the least convenient hour just so she can get her water in peace.  But she is not afraid.  She knows who she is.  She is tough.  I'm not about to make her my role model or anything, but she portrays a picture of equality for women that I really like.  And, obviously, Jesus does too.  

Notice, He never reprimands her for her sassiness.  On the contrary, He uses it to further the conversation and to get to a depth that He doesn't get to with many of the men around Him.  He doesn't want her to stop being the person that she is, because it is precisely because of who she is, that He chose her to reveal the magnificent words that will follow.  Of course, He wants her to abandon her life of sin and follow Him in a surrendered manner.  What I'm saying is that He doesn't require that she stop being her own sassy/clever self because He can use that for the furthering of His Kingdom!  That's why God made her that way!

The same way He uses hot-tempered-impulsive-foot-in-his-mouth Peter as one of the pillars of the church without asking him to stop being all that he is, He is going to use this woman to work and deliver a message that will change everyone who comes in touch with it from then all the way to today.  He works through us just as we are!

I know that I cannot just say: "Well, God made me this way" to justify my sin.  The fruits of the Spirit need to grow in me in spite of my sinful nature.  Sin and Christ cannot cohabitate in my soul, and my personality is not an excuse for my wrong choices.  But I do believe that there is a reason for everything, including the way we are.  God endowed us with different abilities and personalities for His purposes.  He needs us all.  He needs the mild, gentle and smooth as well as the rough around the edges.  He knows why He left some unsanded surfaces in us.  And there will be a day, when, whatever it is we have, He will use for His glory, if we offer it to Him honestly, in confidence that He accepts us just as we are.