Tuesday, August 9, 2011

"Living Chocolate"

Last night I was hanging out with a girlfriend of mine when we started discussing what we as women go to for comfort rather than God. Obviously the first thing on our list was men!

You know the feelingof security and protection you get from being around a man—whether he is a good man or not, the fact that he is a man speaks something to a woman’s soul. It’s like we need that stability of someone stronger than us in our life, and so we run to the first thing that halfway fits that description.

Because of this action, our hearts and then mutilated and shattered when that man shares his protection with other women, or when he takes away our security by moving around to a different female.

Second on our list was chocolate. I think we all know what I’m talking about. After your heart gets stomped on by the fake security of a man, who’s the first person you turn too—before your best girl friend even…CHOCOLATE!

Where the idea that chocolate makes you feel better came from, I have no idea—but I’m not going to fight it. We all know how that sweet taste of Hershey’s tastes when you need it the most. Like heaven in your mouth, everything gets a little bit better…for about 30 minutes. Then you wake up and realize you still feel like crap, your heart isn’t fixed, and on top of that now you’re gaining weight!

…At this point in our conversation we were supernaturally hit with the best t-shirt design/ life quote EVER!! “Living Chocolate.” John 4:14

Some of you may have instantly understood that, others of you are probably looking at this computer as if it were a middle school boy telling a joke that isn’t funny. Either way, let me explain. In John chapter 4 Jesus is at the well with a woman who has seen more heartache than a soap opera.

This woman was similar to many of us women today; she never found her security. All her life she fled from man to man, searching for that protection, that fulfillment, that something to give her happiness and meaning. However after 5 husbands and 5 divorces she was still completely miserable and unsure of what true love looked like. Her whole life had been fed with lies, pain, and heartache. If she were with us now I’m sure she would tell you she had more than her share of double chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream (which obviously never helped much either.)

It is at this point in her life where she reaches true desperation. She searched everywhere, tried everything—and now she’s at the end of her rope. No husband, no money, no meaning in life. She bottled all of her misery up inside her and continued in her daily routine as if nothing was wrong.However it was in her dreaded daily routine that something amazing happened.

As she was miserably pulling up a heavy bucket of water so her thirst might be quenched, a man from the other side walked up. She sees this man and knows it is against social rules for a woman from Samaria to speak to, or even associate with his kind. Decidingly, she keeps her head down and once again hides her shame and pain. But at that moment the man opens his mouth and says, “Will you give me a drink?”

Confused, she snaps back with the phrase, “Why are you talking to me?? You’re a Jew; I’m a Samaritan...ew.” With a heart breaking for her Jesus replied, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

Not understanding the power of his words, she begins to ask questions—frustrated with this man interfering with her daily routine. She had finally gotten this part of her life down. Show no emotion, share no feelings, and do the daily routine—now why was this guy trying to complicate things? The last thing she needed was a lawsuit for talking to a Jewish man!

In reference to her confusion about the “living water,” Jesus points to her bucket and says, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

After further debate and discussion the woman began to understand. She got it. Broken hearted and sobbing with a desire for righteousness, she looked up to Jesus and said, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” And Jesus went on to heal her and give her true life.

You see, as humans we tend to put our heart, life, and meaning in the hands of other humans—which always leaves us hurt and disappointed. Then we try to fill that void with shopping, food, or of course chocolate—which only helps temporarily. But the good news is that Jesus wants to be your everlasting comforter. He wants to be the water that fully satisfies you forever. He wants to be your “Living Chocolate”—a chocolate that satisfies eternally, heals your hurts, and eventually brings others to the goodness of its powers.

Not a day goes by that God doesn’t look at our broken hearts and say, “Daughter, let me hold you. I want to fix the broken pieces for you. All you have to do is ask me and I will.”

2 Corinthians 1:3-4a

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles…”

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