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

Jesus spoke today’s verse to the Samaritan woman who had come to the well at midday to draw water. Jesus was waiting there and engaged her in conversation. He asked her to give Him a drink from the water she was drawing. Her objection may have been motivated by many things, but the one she chose was, “Why would a Jewish man ask a Samaritan woman for a drink of water?”

The passage goes on to reveal that this woman was waiting for God’s promise of the Messiah to set everything right, but she didn’t seem to be waiting very intently. In fact, she can represent many of us as we wait for God’s promises.

In the busyness of life, we can get distracted from God’s promises and find ourselves marching mindlessly one foot after another, just trying to keep up on a weary journey without much enthusiasm or purpose. How often are we settling for the lesser things, when God is offering a far more magnificent ones? And why do we do that?

The woman at the well thought Jesus was promising to save her from her boring daily task of trudging to the well each day. She didn’t recognize Jesus’ promise initially, though she would receive it eventually. Often we only recognize God’s larger promises—what He’s really orchestrating in our lives—in retrospect. His promise came and we didn’t even notice at the time.

So what are the primary obstacles in recognizing the promises of God? And how can we partner with Jesus in seeing them more clearly and quickly?

First of all, rejoice.
We’re not rejoicing about our waiting. We’re rejoicing in the Jesus who is with us as we wait, and we’re rejoicing in who He wants to be for us as we wait. It’s not just recognizing the promise, but WHO it is that is that’s making the promise. Rejoicing quiets the voice of panic within us that shouts, “What are you going to do if God doesn’t come through with what He’s promised?”

God gives us promises so we can rejoice in them… so we can experience the best while we walk through the wait to victory. It teaches us to possess His promise…to inhabit it…taking that promise into ourselves…stepping into that promise… praying from that promise and live our lives from the perspective of what God has promised us.

…All without becoming obsessed with His promise. You see, that’s the other side of the coin. While many get distracted from what God has promised, others of us obsess over it and are consumed by the promise instead of by Jesus who is walking through the wait with us.

…And that’s where the excitement comes into our life…as we are rejoicing in His promises in His presence. Waiting isn’t passive, it’s active. It’s not obsessive, it’s trusting. We’re rejoicing that His presence is here. Rejoicing that His provision is promised. If He isn’t in a hurry, then neither are we.