Ever since I read the story of the woman at the well this week, I’ve been singing the refrain of that old song from 1980, “Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places.” Do you remember that one (you can stop reading right here if you were born after 1990)? It’s a country song – the hit single from the movie Urban Cowboy with John Travolta and Debra Winger.
I was looking for love in all the wrong places. Looking for love in too many faces. Searching your eyes, looking for traces. Of what… I’m dreaming of…
Are you singing it yet? Got the tune rolling around in your head? I’m sorry.
Think about it though. This song is about the woman at the well, the woman with five husbands. Hasn’t she been looking for love in all the wrong places? Hasn’t she been looking for love in too many faces? And isn’t this exactly what Jesus tries to tell her when he speaks about the living water?
“Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again,” Jesus explains. “But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” (John 4:13)
Jesus knows all about the woman at the well. He knows she’s had five husbands (her latest a lover, not a spouse) – and he knows she’s been searching for sustenance and fulfillment in all the wrong places and faces. She’s been looking for life everywhere else but the only true place she’ll find it: in Jesus.
That’s why she continues to thirst, Jesus says – because she’s drinking from the wrong source. She’s got the wrong well.
I get it, I do. I may not look to men for fulfillment, but I look elsewhere, just like the woman at the well. My well plunges deep into the desire for recognition, achievement and success.
I often look to the outside world to tell me I matter, and when I do, I come up thirsty and empty every single time.
Sometimes I wonder what happened to the woman at the well after she ran back to the village to proclaim the Messiah’s arrival. Was she cured from that moment on? Did she stop looking for love in all the wrong places? Did she abandon her pursuit of worldly love and fulfillment to drink fully and deeply from the living water?
Somehow I suspect she was a lot like you and me. I suspect, like you and me, she strayed and resorted to her old behaviors from time to time. But I also know that if she did wander, God patiently and faithfully led her back to the living water again and again, just as he does for you and me.
Questions for Reflection:
What well are you drinking from – where are you looking for fulfillment and sustenance? To material pursuits? To a relationship? To status and achievement? To an addictive behavior?
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Michelle, thanks so much for this thought-provoking pots. I think that in our world of every-increasing choice and distraction it is so easy to look for the things we need in the wrong places. I often forget where true contentment and peace comes from – God, my relationships with those I love, being still, etc and seek to make myself feel better with Elastoplast fixes instead.
Blessings
Mel from Essential Thing Devotions
Being still – yes!
Michelle,
Thank you for this timely post. So often I find my heart wandering, chasing the wrong things – then I realize how dry my heart has become and how easy it is to wander. God has been speaking to me lately about being secure in His love first and foremost – and that what results is then an overflow of that love. Blessings to you.
~Victoria
Fearless Heart
I know, I know, I do the same thing, Victoria – chasing after the wind, and then wondering why my spirit feels so dry and dessicated.
Thanks for stopping by today…
Hi Michelle! I hear His word in secular music all the time. Love the connection you’ve made between the woman at the well and this song. And yes…I’ll probably hum this tune at some point today because having been born well before the 90’s…I know this song well. Have a great day!
I’ll be singing it all day now :). I’ve been looking at the wrong well lately. Seems like I head that way periodically and I need these reminders to help me change directions. Praying a grace-soaked Monday for you, Michelle.
This is such a tempting alternative, isn’t it, Michelle? Those other wells are so convenient and tasty! If we’d only remember they only increase our thirst rather than satisfy it. Thanks for this reminder today. (By the way, great minds think alike!)
So convenient, so easy…but yeah, so empty in the long-run. Thanks for stopping by today, Wayne.
Yes, this.
Must admit to looking again and again for approval He tells me I don’t need.
For I am approved by Him.
Still my heart thirsts for the water from the well of man’s approval and recognition.
You’ve captured it here, Michelle.
You’ve reminded me of another favorite song…one I relate well to…
…Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. Here’s my heart Lord, take and seal it; seal it for thy courts above!
Blessings to you, Michelle!
One of my absolute favorites, Joe – I hum it all the time around here!
This post is perfect for a woman I know who is looking for love somewhere other than Jesus. I think we’ve all been there. We are lucky if we accept Christ’s perfect love as the only one that fulfills us completely.
What great thoughts Michelle! And yes, that song is now rolling around in my mind!
God gave us so many wonderful gifts that we in turn can use for addictive treats. Sigh. I often turn to food for pleasure and solace; that’s why I should fast more often than I do….
Hmmmm, good point, Lisa. Your comment reminds me of Lysa Terkeurst’s book “Made to Crave.” Have you read it? I have not, but I’ve heard really good things about it – think I need to put it on my list.
Yup, so guilty of drinking out of that well of recognition and approval. Sure, it might provide a temporary thirst-quenching moment, but it never satisfies. (Even as I say this, I am thinking just-a-little-bit about my blog comments so far today – yuck on me!)
Asking the Lord to make me thirsty ONLY for Him, and then to satisfy my thirst with His never-ending, soul-fulfilling Living Water.
GOD BLESS!
Michelle, how I have drunk from the wrong well so often in the past. I’m grateful for God’s redemption of those times and His encouragement to continue seeking him in all the right places! Great post, friend!
Oh… I’ve been pondering this well for a long time too. Thanks for the place to ponder some more and reflect.
I used to be all about seeking approval and help from people. That was a huge disappointment! Just last year, I started memorizing scripture. That has really helped me change my focus.
Great word today, Michelle! Yes, I spent time as a young woman looking for love in all the wrong places. I did not know the Lord. But my journey toward Him began with a word I heard one lonely evening as I stood at my screen door looking out at the full moon. He said, “You were made for better than this.” That’s the moment He began to save my life.
Today, I get pre-occupied by shiny things–jewellery, handbags, shoes. I go on spending sprees. Or I put too much stock into a relationship, until I remember Christ is the only One who loves perfectly. “Amazing Grace, How sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.”
Yeah, this is where I have a problem with motherhood. Because if you don’t look for some fulfillment in it, then you’re probably doing a lousy job, and your children will suffer. But what about when things go badly? Then you realize it’s a well you are supposed to draw from, but not so much for yourself–for your children.
Hi Michelle,
This post was shared on Salt & Light – a link up for inspirational post by other bloggers – and has been chosen as this weeks feature. I truly enjoyed it, and am so glad it was passed on! I’d love for you to stop by and check it out, and grab a feature button if you’re interested. The post will go live on the 10th at 3AM EST.
Marissa
http://raysofgraceandjoy.blogspot.com/2014/02/salt-light-6.html