Recognition

"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" John 4:10

I use to laugh at my parents when we would run into someone they "knew" out in public....because it would not take long after that encounter for them to turn to me and say, "I have NO idea who that was, I went to school with her, I know that, but I cannot remember her name". They were SO OLD, and that would NEVER happen to ME.....or so I thought! I cannot count how many times over the last 5 years that very same scenerio has happened to me.....Unbelievable.
I can so relate with the woman at the well. There have been times in my life in which I have become so"lazy" in my time spent with God, that I have not RECOGNIZED who He was in the middle of the chaos. He had not gone anywhere, but I had. He was still doing His "thing", but I was too busy with life and being consumed by the events of this world, that I did not hear His direction, and to that end, chose my own way. There is nothing more humbling than looking back and realizing He had given me the way around the situation, and I had not RECOGNIZED His face standing right in front of me.
God wants us to WANT Him. He has given us life here on earth NOT to prosper ourselves, but to LOOK to Him in ALL things, and when it is all over, give HIM the GLORY for what HE has brought us through. This is our testimony, our own personal sermon in which to reach those walkig amongst us who have no idea who the man sitting next to them at the well is, because no one has ever taken the time to introduce them.
If we spend time in the Word, and Prayer with God, we will KNOW Him. When we see Him, we will recognize the voice, the hand, the way He is directing us. These are the ways God has given us access to Him, to not take advantage of them is to hinder our walk, and thus, our testimony and outreach to the lost world around us. Prayer fosters a relationship, the Word, an understanding, things we need in order to grow deeper in relationship and love of WHO our Saviour is.
Never again do I want to be in the same place as that woman at the well, not able to recognize the ONE and ONLY SAVIOUR who would not only give her water, but LIFE ETERNAL. I want to see Him at every crossroad and every direction I take, and be able to choose that way because I KNOW HIM, and I TRUST Him.....