Facing Samaria

Today I've had an embattled kind of day. Today I've realized I'm facing my Samaria. I'm at a point where I have to understand that my Samaria is in sight and there is no way around it...only through it. I can't help but think about the account of Jesus and the disciples recorded in John 4. What was on the disciples mind when they walked straight into Samaria, a place they purposefully avoided and a people they cared to have nothing to do with? Jesus had no intention of missing an opportunity, even in a place where no one else wanted to be and with a people no one else cared for.

So, my Samaria...ah, it's a place that is so hard to imagine being in. It's a place of hardness in my heart and a place I have no desire to go. And where does the Lord lead me? Straight to my Samaria. It's a place where there are people that need Jesus but I have no desire to minister to. A place of frustration and a place that requires great faith. My problem is I want to have the response of Jesus with the heart of the disciples. Doesn't work that way. Wouldn't it be easier for the Lord to lead me to my Jerusalem or the uttermost parts of the earth? Why Samaria? Why to a people I don't want to share with or be involved with? I can only imagine the discomfort the disciples were feeling as they made their way into the land of Samaria. The uneasiness they felt when making conversation or even contact with the Samaritan people.

However, one thing I can say is this, the disciples and Jesus spent limited time in Samaria. They did not stay for an extended period of time. They were there for a purpose and once it was accomplished they left. There's a purpose for me facing my Samaria and a need to be met. I kind of feel like Jonah...I'd just rather turn and run the other direction as hard and fast as I can. But I don't want to face being in a darker, lonelier place than what I'm facing now. Guess we all have our own Samaria...time to face mine.