Over the years, I have had many brief encounters that have transformed me. These brief encounters range from emotions. Some were awesome, some were good, and then some were awful. BUT whatever feelings the encounter brought they changed my life for good.
There are several that are of great importance to. One encounter which led me to write the story NUDGE. One encounter which led to prayer. One encounter that connected people together. One encounter that brought back memories of joy and one encounter that changed my life.
This encounter that I am going to discuss changed my mindset and propelled me forward. It didn’t happen the same year that I had the brief encounter it happened a year later; however, this brief encounter has pushed me to press on helping others. This brief encounter has given me confidence and also allowed me to see the plans that God has placed before me. It also had kept me obedient to Him even when I thought I was failing.
In the high school parking lot in 2010, Mrs. Avery approached me and said, “I have put you on our prayer list at church.” I said thank you but felt strange wondering why in the world she would put me on the prayer list. I asked why, and she said, “God told me to.” She went on to tell me that I was wasted in the Stuttgart school system, and there was a world out there that needed my encouragement. Little did I ever dream that 9 years later, I would be doing the job I am doing now helping pass on the joy to many.
What if I had never had that brief encounter? What if I had not paid attention to the brief moment 9 years ago? Think about what I would have missed and more than that what others would not have had.
Have you ever missed a brief encounter? Have a missed a brief encounter because you felt uncomfortable?
Throughout the Bible there are brief encounters that change lives and even change history. We have been studying women of the bible. In the old testament there are several women that had brief encounters that changed history.
Eve had an encounter with a serpent, which led to sin, however it brought us Jesus to save the world. Abagail had an encounter with David, which stopped the bloodshed of many. Esther had an encounter with the king and saved her people.
In the new testament there are stories that tell about encounters between Jesus and random people. These stories usually led to a transformation.
One encounter is between Jesus and the Samaritan woman found in the book of John.
John 4:4-42 New International Version (NIV)
4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans. [a])
10 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.”
11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 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.”
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
17 “I have no husband,” she replied.
Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”
The Disciples Rejoin Jesus
27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”
28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”
32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”
33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”
34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”
Many Samaritans Believe
39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers.
42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
SOMETHINGS THAT STAND OUT ABOUT THIS BRIEF ENCOUNTER:
• This was a conversation between Jesus and a woman- a Jew and a Samaritan (out of the ordinary)
• This encounter was not expected (time of day that she was at well was not when they usually went.)
• She had no idea what the living water was, but once she realizes she is changed
• Through this conversation, the woman changes her view of the world. We all should change the lens through which we view the world.
• Jesus confronts her of her sin. He respectfully approaches her sin. She acknowledges the truth.
WHAT DOES THIS BRIEF ENCOUNTER ACCOMPLISH?
• This brief encounter made a transformation in the Samaritan woman.
• Jesus revealed her sin that she struggles with and He lovingly reacted to her and cared about her heart
• She changed her community by sharing with them her encounter with Jesus.
• She brought others to Jesus
Another encounter is in the book of Luke.
Two disciples are walking down the road to Emmaus visiting about the death of Jesus and their loss of hope. Jesus appears, but they don’t recognize Him. Right there on the road, Jesus begins bible study. In that brief encounter, they hearts blazed with fire for Jesus. The two men went back and shared with the others that Jesus had risen indeed.
On the Road to Emmaus
13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles[a] from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him.
17 He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”
They stood still, their faces downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”
19 “What things?” he asked.
“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”
25 He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. 29 But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.
30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him,and he disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34 and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” 35 Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.
In a brief encounter, Jesus was visible to the disciples. Jesus made them realize it was all about Him. A lesson that was passed on and that we need to pass on also. When Jesus is in the center of our lives, brief encounters will set us on fire.
Never Underestimate Decisions God Encourages. When He leads people to you, and you to people interact with them. You will be amazed as to how your heart will be set on fire, your life will be changed, and lessons will be learned.
CHALLENGES OF THE WEEK:
• Keep your daily appointment with God
• Dig deep into his word
• Have some brief encounters
• Fill your cup with Christ so you can fill other cups
EXTRA READS AND RESOURCES OF WRITING:
Leave a Reply