As the reality sunk in that I was a human being with limitations, I could not help but feel a certain degree of helplessness. If I could not help all those I loved, then what would they do? And if my identity was not found in being able to solve all the problems, then how would God’s plan be carried out. And what would happen to all those in need? Looking back, I cannot believe just how arrogant that actually sounded.

     I honestly don’t think I intended for it to turn out that way. I believe like many other caregivers I was just trying to be Christ to the world. It took exhausting myself of everything that God had given me in my natural body to realize that the life of Christ in us is a supernatural work. 

                In John chapter 4, Jesus encounters a Samaritan woman at a well where He is looking for a drink to quench His weary body’s thirst, and she is coming to get through another day of inward emptiness by completing her chores for the day. Jesus allowed us to see through His incarnation that the flesh of this world has limitations which transcend to all people, teaching us that we can also grow physically weary on our journey. 

                This lady that Jesus met was not only limited by her physical body, but she was burdened down by consequences that had accumulated from failed relationships and bad decisions over the course of her life. When Jesus mentioned to her that He had a source of water that would provide something she had been going without, it caught her attention. She had never heard anyone speak with a promise of abundance like He did. She challenged Him by asking, “Are you greater than our father Jacob that gave us this well?” 

                When the greatest resource in our life is what another person provides, we are running on empty, even if that person is you. But God loved us so much that He sent Christ to redeem us so that we might have His life in us. He did not ask us to love others at our expense. Jesus wants us to come be filled to overflowing so that His life would overflow into others. His fountain never runs dry! 

                                                                                                                            Pastor Greg Neely