Pastors: Find restoration and renewal
“Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as He was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon” (John 4:6)
The other day I was feeling particularly tired—actually a little worn out; the incredible journey that the Lord has had me on over the last season was starting to seem like a long and winding road. I was deeply grateful for the journey, but at the same time I realized I was thirsty for a break. However, I had just returned from vacation, so I knew this desire wasn’t about rest or recreation; I was in need of restoration and renewal.
The morning that I was most acutely feeling this, I read John 4:6. The Lord arrested my eyes and my heart on this verse, and peace flooded my soul. Here’s what I heard the Holy Spirit say to me:
- “Jesus became tired from His journey, too.” There was no shrinking back from His purpose or passion, but in the midst of what He had to do and where He had to go, Jesus had to also stop to be restored.
- “Jesus sat down by the well” He had sent his disciples away and sat by a quiet place (crowds aren’t at the well at noon) where physical and emotional renewal was possible. Getting to a quiet place where we can be refreshed is, actually, a Christ-like action.
- “Jesus welcomed life-giving conversation with the woman who showed up” As we discover later in this chapter, the well wasn’t just about physical water but Jesus used it as a grand metaphor for the refreshing presence of the Holy Spirit available to a person who had been trampled on by her own journey.
As pastors, we sit down with Jesus daily to be connected, but often we also need to go spend life-giving time with Him outside of our normal routine (“at about noon”) and encounter Him in a location that is different for us (“Jacob’s well”). It’s in these unplanned and unexpected moments when we find that Jesus says to us “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink” (John 7:37), and we open up to a new overflow of the Holy Spirit in our lives.