June 19, 2024 Devo

Have you ever felt as if God has put you in a place where you don’t want to be? You don’t like the city. You don’t like the teachers. You don’t like your boss or your co-workers. Maybe it’s a place that you have heard awful things about, and it was the LAST place you wanted to go. But that’s exactly where God sends you. And you have no idea why.
That was the thought that hit me when I read the last two sentences of our passage today. “So he left Judea and returned to Galilee. He had to go through Samaria on the way.” No, He didn’t. Why would it say that? Jews almost NEVER went through Samaria. To come into contact with a Samaritan was “defiling” for Jews. Most Jews would take the much longer road around Samaria, rather than the road straight through. So, Jesus didn’t “have” to go. Except for the fact that Jesus was here to establish the Kingdom of God on earth and make salvation available to all mankind. That included the Samaritans. The “have to” wasn’t because it was the only road they could take. But it was the only road to where the lost Samaritans could discover Jesus and be “found.” It was the “have to” road because that was the road His Father needed Him to take. So, He took it.
Before you get too upset about your job that you don’t like, or those people you can’t stand to be around, or this place where you don’t want to live, you might want to ask a deeper question. Is it a “have to” in the plan of God for you? Maybe there are people there that God is trying to reach, and you are exactly the person to reach them—that is, if you can get over yourself and your whining and complaining for a bit. Maybe there are seeds that need to be planted. Maybe there is healing God needs you to bring. What if you stopped cursing and questioning the leading of God in your life and opened yourself up to God using you and working through you wherever you are? Maybe some of those horrible people that you can’t stand to be around might come to know Jesus. Maybe, if you pictured yourself doing it for God, some of that work that you’re doing might become a little bit more enjoyable. And maybe this place that you can’t wait to leave might become a little more endearing to your heart. God had great plans for Jesus and His disciples in Samaria. Maybe God has some pretty amazing plans for your “have to” place, too. That’s God’s Word for you today.