There is an aching emptiness in each of us. Scars and wounds in our hearts caused by hurt and rejection. Many of us have been hurt by the people closest to us, people we look to to protect us only to be betrayed and disappointed by their hurtful words and selfish actions. Sometimes, these scars and wounds are so deep that we do not even realise they are there. We do not realise that our entire psychological set-up has developed in response to those emotional scars and wounds. To fear being hurt again, some of us build huge defensive barriers, not allowing ourselves to ever to vulnerable again. Others strive for power and achievement to compensate for the shame within. Still others turn to ddictive and destructive behaviour to sooth our wounds and escape from facing the intolerable pain within. Often the most driven people are the most insecure. The most powerful and accomplished are the most fearful of insufficiency. The most charismatic and charming are the most fearful of rejection. When we open the window to our souls, we realise that the mechanisms and wires that run beneath the surface are far from God-pleasing. There is a cry within each of us for love and acceptance and protection. Yet all our attempts at false comforts to provide for ourselves these things only leave us more insecure, more fearful and more helpless.
"The well is deep", said the Samaritan woman to Jesus. How will you ever be able to fill it? How will you ever be able to fill chasms and voids of my emptiness within? Who can ever heal these deeply buried hurts and pain? Yet the love of God is like a fountain of living water, not only enough to fill the deep wells of hurt, but to cause it to overflow in love. When we encounter the person of Jesus, bit by bit, little by little, those wells are filled. The embrace of His love, the security of His presence, the joy of His approval. He will wipe away every tear from our eyes.