The Lost Ones – Part 2 | From Rejected to Redeemed: The Woman Nobody Chose, God Used
From Broken Relationships to Bold Evangelist - The Woman at the Well
She didn't come for a miracle. She didn't come for church. She didn't come looking for Jesus.
She came for something ordinary - water.
But by the time she left that well, she wasn't just carrying water anymore. She was carrying purpose.
Some of you came today just trying to get through the week. But God might turn your ordinary moment into a life-changing encounter.
The story in John 4 introduces us to a woman whose life was full of shame. She was avoided by society, judged by her community, and isolated from other women. And yet this woman becomes one of the first evangelists in the New Testament.
Her story proves something powerful:
Your worst chapter does not have to be the last chapter.
The Divine Appointment
"Now He had to go through Samaria." - John 4:4 (AMP)
Jews usually avoided Samaria because of deep racial and religious division. But Jesus intentionally went there. It was not a coincidence - that was a divine appointment.
What the world calls a detour, God calls a divine appointment.
"So He arrived at a Samaritan town called Sychar, near the tract of land that Jacob gave to his son Joseph; and Jacob's well was there. So Jesus, tired as He was from His journey, sat down by the well. It was then about the sixth hour (noon)." - John 4:5-6 (AMP)
Most people don't get water at noon. It's the hottest part of the day. The fact that this woman came at noon tells us everything - she was avoiding people. And yet, Jesus was right there waiting.
Point 1 | Jesus Will Meet You Where Others Avoid You
"Then a woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, 'Give Me a drink.'" - John 4:7 (AMP)
This moment shocked everyone. Because Jesus crossed three social barriers at once:
- A Jew speaking to a Samaritan
- A man speaking publicly to a woman
- A rabbi speaking to a woman with a bad reputation
Society avoided her. Religion avoided her. But Jesus sat down right where she was.
Some people feel like their past disqualifies them, their mistakes define them, and their failures isolate them. But Jesus specializes in meeting people where others refuse to go.
This is actually a Biblical pattern. Jesus often went toward the people everyone else avoided. He touched the leper. He ate with sinners. He forgave the adulterous woman. Jesus doesn't run away from broken people - He runs toward them.
"When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress or mistreat him. But the stranger who resides with you shall be to you like someone native-born among you; and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God." - Leviticus 19:33-34 (AMP)
Some people in this room think: "If people really knew my story, they would avoid me." But Jesus already knows your story - and He still showed up.
Point 2 | Broken Relationships Often Come from a Deeper Thirst
"Jesus answered her, 'If you knew [about] God's gift [of eternal life], and who it is who says, Give Me a drink, you would have asked Him [instead], and He would have given you living water (eternal life).'" - John 4:10 (AMP)
"Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks the water that I give him will never be thirsty again. But the water that I give him will become in him a spring of water [satisfying his thirst for God] welling up [continually flowing, bubbling within him] to eternal life." - John 4:13-14 (AMP)
Think about saltwater. If you're stranded in the ocean, drinking saltwater feels like it helps - but the more you drink, the worse you get. It looks like a solution, but it actually deepens the problem.
Some relationships feel like relief, but they're actually increasing your thirst. What you keep going back to might be the very thing draining you.
Jesus reveals that this woman had five husbands. That means five "this is the one" moments. Five times believing "this will work." Five times it didn't. Now she's in a situation where the man won't even claim her.
She's the one who gives wife-level commitment for girlfriend-level security. She invests deeply but gets a shallow return. She's the one who hears, "I'm not ready for a relationship" - but watches him commit to someone else three months later.
Think of an item moved to the clearance rack at a store. Not because it lost value - but because it was mishandled, overlooked, or didn't sell when expected. People start assuming something must be wrong with it. But the truth is: the value didn't change, just the perception did.
Just because people mishandled you doesn't mean you lost your value.
She wasn't just looking for love - she was looking for fulfillment. And when you try to fill a spiritual need with a natural relationship, you will always come up empty. You can't expect a person to give you what only God can provide.
Point 3 | Jesus Addressed Her Past Without Rejecting Her
Jesus brings up her past - not to shame her, but to heal her.
God will touch the area you've been avoiding. You can't heal what you won't face.
Think of an X-ray. It doesn't lie - it reveals what's broken. But the purpose of an X-ray is not to shame you. It's to diagnose so you can be healed.
Conviction is not rejection. It's an invitation to transformation.
Point 4 | An Encounter with Jesus Changes Your Identity
"Then the woman left her water jar, and went into the city and began telling the people..." - John 4:28 (AMP)
Something powerful happens during this conversation. The woman realizes Jesus is the Messiah. And suddenly everything shifts.
She left the water jar. The very reason she came to the well no longer mattered - because she had found something greater.
If your hands are full, you can't receive anything new. Imagine someone trying to hand you something valuable, but you're holding onto things you don't even need anymore. Letting go is not loss - it's preparation.
You can't receive what God has next if you're still holding onto what He already ended.
Point 5 | Your Mess Becomes Your Message
"Come, see a Man who told me everything I ever did..." - John 4:29 (AMP)
She goes from hiding to proclaiming. From ashamed to bold. From broken to evangelist.
The same story that embarrassed you will become the story that empowers others.
Point 6 | God Often Uses the Least Expected People
Think about it. Jesus could have chosen anyone to start a revival in Samaria. But He chose a woman with a messy past, a reputation, and shame. And the Bible says the whole town came out to hear Jesus because of her testimony.
God loves using unlikely people. Because when God uses broken people, everyone knows the credit belongs to Him.
Point 7 | Your Testimony Is Bigger Than You
"Now many Samaritans from that city believed in Him and trusted Him [as Savior] because of what the woman said when she testified, 'He told me all the things that I have done.'" - John 4:39 (AMP)
"...never lagging behind in diligence; aglow in the Spirit, enthusiastically serving the Lord." - Romans 12:11 (AMP)
Your testimony is powerful because it is personal. Someone may debate theology, but they cannot debate what God has done in your life.
A person rescued from addiction can reach addicts. A person healed from brokenness can reach broken people. A person delivered from shame can reach those living in shame. Sometimes God lets you go through something so you can help someone else come out.
The Story of the Cracked Pot
There is an old story of a water bearer in India who had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole carried across his neck. One pot had a crack in it. While the perfect pot always delivered a full portion of water, the cracked pot arrived only half full.
For two years this went on daily. The perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the cracked pot was ashamed of its flaw - miserable that it could only accomplish half of what it was made to do.
One day the cracked pot said to the bearer, "I am ashamed of myself. For two years I have been able to deliver only half my load because this crack causes water to leak out all the way back to your master's house. Because of my flaw, you don't get full value for your efforts."
The water bearer said, "As we return to the master's house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path."
As they went up the hill, the cracked pot noticed the sun warming the beautiful wildflowers along the path. But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad about leaking half its load.
The bearer said, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side? I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master's table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house."
Your cracks are not the end of your story. God is using them to water something beautiful.
Closing
"If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation." - 2 Corinthians 5:17
The woman at the well didn't clean herself up before she met Jesus. She met Jesus at her lowest, her most ordinary, her most isolated moment - and she walked away transformed.
You don't have to have it all together. You just have to show up. Jesus will meet you right there.
Discussion Questions
- The Divine Detour - The woman came to the well for water, not for a life change. Can you think of a time when God used an ordinary moment or unexpected circumstance to do something extraordinary in your life? What does it look like to stay open to divine appointments in your daily routine?
- The Thirst Beneath the Thirst - Jesus told the woman that the water she was seeking would only leave her thirsty again. What are some things you have turned to - relationships, achievements, approval, comfort - hoping they would satisfy a need that only God can fill? How did that play out?
- Shame vs. Healing - The woman had been avoiding people, coming to the well alone at noon. Jesus didn't condemn her past - He named it and offered her something new. Is there an area of your life you've been avoiding facing? What would it look like to bring that before God rather than hiding it?
- Leaving the Water Jar - When the woman encountered Jesus, she left her water jar behind - the very thing she came for no longer mattered. What is something you might be holding onto that is keeping your hands too full to receive what God has for you next?
- Your Testimony Is Your Ministry - The woman went from hiding her story to telling the whole town. The people she once avoided became the people she reached. How has something you've been through - a struggle, a failure, a season of shame - prepared you to encourage or help someone else? Who in your life might need to hear your story?