God is greater than your past!
What a significant statement. If we only believed it and lived it. Why does it seem like our past has such a hold on us? It robs us of our dreams for the future and paralyzes us from daring to step out and do something great. Personal failures steal the hope of many, and they give up on the dreams they once dreamed. Families are caught in disputes that go on for years and perpetuate into the next generation. The Hatfield and the McCoy’s are legendary in their family feud.
When you look at your past, there are great things that happened as well. Achievements that are so unique to you as an individual or as a family. Think about Rembrandt and DaVinci. Individually they and many others are known for their artistic creativity. Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig Van Beethoven, and many more graced the world with their musical abilities. Then there are men and women whose families achieved greatness—the Waltons and the DuPont’s and others that revolutionized industries that blessed the economy in America.
The Bible has a similar story of a family with history. In John chapter four, we read about a woman that encounters Jesus at a well.
John 4:9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?" For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.
She was a Samaritan and came from Samaria. Jesus, a jew, was waiting at the well when she showed up to get some water. Jews would usually avoid anyone that was a Samaritan, but Jesus was no ordinary Jew. So, he strikes up a conversation with her. But first, she objects by using the racial card: "How come you, as a Jew, ask me for water." Her history was filled with racial prejudice from her culture and how Jews treated her. Maybe this will make Jesus back off.
We all have a default setting that we activate when we don't know how to respond. It gives us identity and value because, somehow, it has worked well for us. But unfortunately, this way of "opting out" is always connected to some experience or trauma in the past. In addition, it has shaped our opinion and belief system. So, for most of us, it is tough to give up.
John 4:10 Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water."
Then Jesus continues the conversation. The first objection did not face him. Instead, he offers her something she has never considered—living water. This living water is better than anything you currently have. It is better than your past, your present, and everything that you value in this life. It has the power to make you see life through a new lens. It will bring hope back into your life; you cannot keep it to yourself. But first, another observation.
John 4:11 The woman said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where, then do You get that living water?
For a moment, she forgets her prejudice and questions his ability to give this living water as he has no container to get it from the well. She did not even consider another source for this water but assumed that this was the place to get it from. She continues by adding why that well is so important. This well has a history. This is no ordinary well. Jacob, our great ancestor, drank from this very well. His livestock drank from it. So, we drink from it, and it has great value to us. Then she asks one of the most outstanding questions recorded in scripture:
John 4:12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?"
She was asking Jesus: "Are you greater than my history?"
Take time and think about it. Are you willing to summarize your history and give it up for something better? Is your experience more important than taking a chance on Jesus?
We all should ask the question and conclude. Jesus is bigger than all our history. What have you done in the past that you are trying to avoid? What action or decision brings great shame and guilt? What secrets are you hiding, and what thoughts stay unspoken? If you combine all your mistakes, sins, failures, and faults, Jesus offers you something new because he is more significant than anything you have ever done.
Rom. 6:10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
He is more significant than all your important victories, achievements, and gifts. All the good you have done; he is more prominent. He is bigger than any of your history!
Once this woman realizes that her future is better than her past, a significant change happens to her. She leaves not just her waterpot but her past and goes and talks with the people in town she tried to avoid all along.
John 4:28 The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, "Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?"
Amazingly, she could tell them that her past was now in the open, but it didn't matter anymore because she had found something better. Failures and traumatic experiences no longer dictated her life. She found a future she did not know she had.
What about your past and your history? John says that if we confess our sins, he is able and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Do you believe he is bigger than your past?
Why don't you ask him and trust him? He will give you hope and a better future, more than anything you ever imagined.