Happy New Year! 

It’s been a while and I have missed sharing my stories and thoughts with you. The third and fourth quarters of 2022 came with some unexpected craziness, so I had to take time off to catch my breath. I am glad I did! 

It’s already the second week of the year! Are you up and running or still trying to figure things out? Are you ready to accept the opportunities that will come your way this year, even if they show up in weird, abnormal or unconventional packages? 

Recently, I read the story of Jesus Christ and the Samaritan woman in the Bible.  It is always exciting for me when I read a familiar Bible story again and I discover something new – a lesson, a principle, a rebuke or an encouragement. 

This story is one that I have known since I was a little girl but I read it one more time and it hit me differently. 

Jesus had heard that the Pharisees had received some information about him so He decided to leave Judea and return to Galilee, maybe to avoid their fanatic naggings. Those guys won’t let Him breathe! 

It was a long journey through Samaria and so He stopped by a well to get some rest, and possibly a drink of water, if someone would show up at the well to draw water. 

This lady showed up and Jesus, tired from his journey, made a simple request:

“Please give me a drink.”

The woman, obviously surprised and, maybe, offended that this man was going against the cultural norm (she was from Samaria and it was unacceptable for Jews to interact with Samaritans), questioned his audacity. I felt like she was saying to Him, 

“How dare you…..?! Don’t you know the rule?!”

Jesus saw an opportunity and chose to react differently by introducing Himself and sharing the blessings of His presence with her. His approach changed the direction of their conversation. She became relaxed and asked questions to gain clarity on some belief systems that she did not understand prior to this time. As they chatted, she realized that she just met the Saviour and right there, she had a divine encounter with Him. She became another mouthpiece for Him as she went off into the city to spread the news of her encounter, telling everyone to come and meet Him too. 

As I read the story, I imagined how it would have turned out if Jesus had paid attention to her refusal and walked away. What if He had taken offence at her response and placed a curse on her – to prove to her that “you don’t talk to a man like that and get away with it; especially when He is the Son of the Most High God.”? What if He had looked into that well and by His mighty power, caused the well to dry up completely just to spite her? 

No, not Jesus. He was a different breed. He saw an opportunity, took advantage of it and that selfless act of wisdom produced results.   

As I read this story, I realized how we encounter opportunities everyday and how they come in ways that we least expect. I don’t know if Jesus had the intention of talking to anyone about Himself as He sat by that well. It was not mentioned in the story; neither were we told that the woman had come to the well that day with the hope that she will meet a man who, she later testified about, saying, 

“He told me all that I ever did!”. 

Jesus had stopped by the well to catch His breath after the long walk; the woman had come to draw water; a conversation started and the rest, as they say, became history!  

Opportunities abound daily, but sometimes, we miss them for many reasons. I will share a few: 

• We have a mindset of how things should happen and where it should happen for us. We are set in our ways and we are not willing to change or think outside the box. Jesus could have held back from having that conversation by saying to Himself, “a well is not the right place for me to introduce myself to this woman”.

• We place limitations on ourselves per time, depending on where we are at the moment. Imagine if Jesus had said to Himself, “I am Jew and she is Samaritan. I know I am thirsty but I won’t ask her because, based on cultural demands and expectations, we are not allowed to interact with each other.” If He did that, this win-win conversation would not have ended the way it did.  

• We are always uptight and we take life too seriously. Life is not that hard and rigid. Relax. Engage. Connect. Have those casual conversations, even if it is with someone who is not your ‘type’ or in your ‘class’. While we look out for connections that will ‘take us to the next level’, we should be mindful of moments that create opportunities for us to help others get to their next level. I heard a preacher say this, “You never know where the road of life is going to take you.” Besides, we can also rise by lifting others, right? Sometimes, we need to relax and flow with the moment. 

• We overthink. We always have those ‘what if’ questions playing at the back of our minds. “What if she ignores me?” “What if he says no?” “What if it doesn’t work?” One of the life lessons I have learnt from my husband is to always think more about the best-case scenarios whenever I want to do something because thinking about the worst-case scenarios and the “what-if-it-doesn’t” situations only makes it difficult for me to move. I have adopted this technique and so far it has worked for me. 

As we go about our lives this year, let us be reminded that opportunities to be blessed and to be a blessing abound daily and sometimes, they come in from of simple requests like,

“Give me a drink”.