I Am Digging A Well

I recently heard the phrase “digging a well.” The person speaking said they would dig a well in the New Year. I thought this meant an actual well for the purpose of irrigation until I thought deeper.

A well, in most instances, is dug to provide a water source for a community. The process includes digging deep into the ground until a water source appears. Water is necessary for survival, and most of us have access to it simply by turning on our faucets. I learned this in fourth grade. I am learning today the importance of digging a well in our life. Jesus is the Living Water, and He is a freely available source to us. I changed my outlook on digging a well.

In the Bible, we read many stories of people being at a well, digging a well, and the significance of a well. The first story I think of is with Hagar. If you don’t know the story of Hagar, she was an Egyptian maidservant of Abraham and Sarah. Sarah was barren, so she took Hagar to Abraham to conceive a child. This was very much against God’s Will. Hagar conceived a son and soon treated Sarah very poorly and unkindly. Sarah then began mistreating and abusing Hagar, so Hagar fled to the wilderness.

In the wilderness, Hagar encountered God at a well. The angel of the LORD appeared to her by a spring (well) and instructed her to “Return to your mistress and submit to her.”

Genesis 16:9 The angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit to her authority.”

The conversation between God and Hagar took place at a place of water. The well, figuratively, is a place where God will draw close to you and heal your pain. Hagar had no right to her baby or her life as a maidservant, yet God spoke to her and comforted her in her suffering. God is always with us, He is an untapped source of grace. The well in the story is an actual place, yet in our lives, it is in our hearts. It’s knowing that God sees us when we suffer.

Genesis 16:13 She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.”

I also think of the Samaritan woman at the well. This story tells of a woman that had been married multiple times and lived a life of shame. She went to the well at the hottest point of the day because she was an outcast. It would have been the heat of the day, and most people would have rested during that time. Most women would come early in the morning or late in the evening to collect water in groups. She went when she would have to see no one, yet Jesus was at the well on one particular day.

Jesus asks the woman for a drink of water, and she questions why he would talk to her? She was a woman that was looked down on as having multiple marriages and unrepented sins. She was also a Samaritan, and He was a Jew. The hatred between Jews and Samaritans was fierce. She didn’t understand.

That day, Jesus was at the well to show her He is the Living Water.

John 4:10-14 Jesus answered her, “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.” “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as also did his sons and his livestock?” Jesus answered, “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 them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

This well of Living Water never runs dry. Jesus replenishes us every time we become parched. The well is a promise of God’s Love for us.

A well in the Bible represents supply. God is Our Provider, His supply never ends. Just like when you look down the depth of a well, you only see the top of the water. You have no idea how much water there is or if other sources of water are connected to it. It’s unknown. God as Our Provider is known and faithful. This well is always flourishing, in the past, today, and in the future.

Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

A well that has been used before, even when it has been filled up, can be accessed again. Deep underground, a supply of water continues to exist. This is the same as God. You may have dried up in your faith, but you can be dug up again and replenished anew. He is the Healer, the Redeemer, the Advocate, and so much more.

2 Chronicles 15:4 But in their distress, they turned to the Lord God of Israel, and they sought Him, and He let them find Him.

Allow God to be your well. Dig your well in 2023 if your well has run dry. Trust Him in all things, allow Him to quench your thirsts, and pour the Living Water over you. I pray for each of you and offer you my gratitude for reading my blog-LoLo