A WORD FOR TODAY, March 4, 2026
Peggy Hoppes
We pray you have been blessed by this daily devotion. If you received it from a friend, you can see other devotions and studies by visiting our website at www.awordfortoday.org.
Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, March 4, 2026
Lectionary Scriptures for March 8, 2026, Third Sunday in Lent: Exodus 17:1-7; Psalm 95:1-9; Romans 5:1-8; John 4:5-26 (27-30, 39-42)
“Oh come, let’s sing to Yahweh. Let’s shout aloud to the rock of our salvation! Let’s come before his presence with thanksgiving. Let’s extol him with songs!” Psalm 95:1-2, WEB
I watched a series online of a treasure hunter who buys storage units that have abandoned or whose renters have failed to pay rent for an extended period. Storage units can be filled with treasure, or they can be duds that are not worth the money the buyers hope. These units are sold by auction, which can get exciting if there are several hunters bidding on the same unit. In this particular series, the treasure hunter paid over $1500 based on a couple items he saw that he expected would be worth some money. Sadly, he realized after purchase that those items were worthless.
However, the unit was full of bags that had potential, so he started digging into garbage. That’s what it seemed, anyway. The unit was 10ft by 10ft, and the bags and boxes stood precariously about seven feet tall. He randomly pulled out a bag, which caused a bunch of other bags to cascade onto the floor. He sat down and started pulling out the garbage. I use that word because much of the contents was garbage: open boxes of cracker, half eaten candy bars, crumbled papers and receipts. The bag was filled with something else: cash. He found this over and over again. It seemed the worse the contents of the bag, the more money he found inside. It took five videos of nearly an hour each to get to the bottom of the pile, and in the end, he found thousands of dollars in crumbled bills, loose change, and gift cards. There were also boxes and boxes of brand-new items like décor and clothing. After he sold what he could, he earned more than ten times the amount he paid for the unit.
This kind of success is highly unusual, but it has given a bunch of people hope that they will strike it rich buying storage units. This is not the first time people have grabbed onto a trend in the hope of making money. That was the whole point of the gold rush during which a few lucky people did get rich, while most of the people who chased gold ended up impoverished or dead. There have been other shows that have led people to chase riches by searching attics or visiting sites where valuables have been found. Most people are disappointed, like we were when we visited the Crater of Diamonds State Park. We didn’t find anything but a few cute rocks while others find diamonds.
The diamonds aren’t beautiful cut diamonds like we see in jewelry, they are raw diamonds whose value is usually found after it is processed. The same is true of much that is found on these treasure hunts. One show visited the site of a sunken ship where several pieces including a silver coin were found. The owners of the ship who ran the dive usually keep all items found, but they have a tradition which allows the finder to keep their first coin. When the coin came out of the water, it looked drab and worthless. It has to go through a process of cleaning, a process that takes months. When the process was complete, that one small coin was worth thousands. It is hard to believe it when it first comes out of the water.
We are diamonds in the rough. We are like the buried and worthless treasures that are dug up by treasure hunters. Our Savior is Jesus Christ, who finds us and cleans us up and then takes us through the process of making us a beautiful jewel. He digs deep into our garbage to find what is valuable in our lives. It is hard sometimes. We are tested. We fail. We won’t be perfect in this world, but Jesus doesn’t throw us away. He keeps at the work, always moving forward.
The Israelites were on a difficult journey. They left Egypt, never certain where they were going or even why they were there. They had cried out for the salvation of the LORD in Egypt, but the life they led in slavery seemed better than the uncertainty of their thirst as they followed this God they did not know. Where would they get their next drink? Imagine what it must have been like having a million people camping in the desert with no source of water?
They began to grumble. I understand. I get pretty testy when I’m uncomfortable. I know what it is like to wish I was back at a painful place because at least it is familiar. The unknown is scary. It is uncomfortable. It is worse than the worst places that we know. They went to Moses and asked, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst?” When we are uncomfortable, the believe that the worst will happen. We are thirsty, so we will die.
God heard their cries on their journey, just as He heard their cries in Egypt. In this story we are reminded that when it seems like God is far away, He is actually very near. God seemed to have abandoned them, but He knew the needs of His people. They needed water, but they also needed to learn how to trust in Him. They were being led from one life to a very different life. The wilderness journey was not only meant to get them from one place to another, but to also to transform them into the people God was calling them to be. He was teaching them about faith, about hope, and about relying on the One who would provide for their every need. They quarreled and tested God, but He still provided. This is good for us to know because we will quarrel and test the LORD, but He is still close and will meet our needs.
Water is important. It is suggested that as much as 40 percent of people worldwide suffer from chronic dehydration. Though it is often mild, dehydration can cause other problems, like reducing cognitive performance, mental accuracy, and memory. It can cause urinary and kidney problems, seizures, and shock. Without water, the body experiences rapid deterioration, including intense thirst, fatigue, cognitive impairment, and eventually, failure of essential organs. A loss of more than 10% of body weight due to water loss is considered a medical emergency.
A human can generally survive without water for 3 to 5 days. While some individuals might survive for up to a week in ideal, cool conditions, severe dehydration typically causes organ failure and death within 3 days. Survival time depends on factors like temperature, physical activity, and health. Intense heat and increased exertion reduce survival time. No wonder the people of Israel grumbled. It didn’t help that the people who left Egypt died as they wandered in the wilderness, some may have even experienced the effects of thirst. “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst?” may not have been an unjustified complaint.
The Exodus was meant to serve a purpose for the people of Israel. After four hundred years, they had to learn to trust the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob again. They would face difficult times as they entered the Promised Land. Enemies would surround them. Their lives and their gods would tempt them. They had to experience the suffering to embrace the mercy.
He will give us water when we need it, we just have to learn to trust Him.
It is important to note that today’s story from the Exodus does not happen after years of wandering in the wilderness. It happened even before they reached Sinai. The trip to Sinai from Egypt lasted only a few weeks. They had seen some pretty incredible things. They saw miracles in Egypt. They saw the column of fire at night and cloud during the day which led them on their way. They saw the Red Sea part so they could safely pass and then they saw it swallow Pharaoh’s army. They saw the bitter water of Marah and Elim miraculously become sweet. They saw the manna and quail fall from heaven to feed them with satisfying food. I never realized how many of these miracles happened in such a short period of time. How could they become so discontented so quickly? I thought that was a modern problem! Even after God had provided safety, escape, clean water, bread and meat, they were still afraid that they would die.
God answered their cries by commanding Moses go ahead of the people with his staff. “Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb. You shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” This was not stale, murky water; it was clean fresh flowing water, good to drink. It was also a foreshadowing of the Living Water that Christ would give to the woman at the well. Moses called that place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and tested God, but God stood on a rock. In later days, Jesus would be the Rock from which the water flowed.
We are no better at seeing things for what they are than those who followed Moses. I am sure they saw nothing but desolation, unable to believe that it would lead to a promise. How could this be what God intended for them? They were not patient, but God is. He was using this time to teach His people; they were being tested; they were still learning to trust in God. We might think that we would have believed if we had been them, especially after seeing so many miraculous things. But would we? Or would we grumble, too?
Have you ever really thought about how quickly Jesus moved in and out of people’s lives? Their experience was often a very brief encounter, but the effects were long-lasting. He healed their dis-ease and cast out their demons. He taught them about the Kingdom of God and forgave their sins. Their lives were changed by just a few minutes of conversation and interaction.
The text from John is a long reading, but it was a conversation that lasted just a few minutes. The woman’s life was completely changed by the encounter as she realized that Jesus was God’s promised Messiah. Her faith was built on just a few questions and answers and then shared with her village. It was then spread among the people of Samaria. When the disciples dispersed into the world to continue Jesus’ ministry, they found that Samaria already believed. They had faith because of the woman who met Jesus at the well.
She was there at the wrong time of day. The best time to draw water was in the early morning; the water then was cool and clear because the silt settled overnight. Her noontime trip yielded stale and muddy water. We learn during the conversation that she had been the wife of five husbands and that she was currently living with a man who was not her husband. She may have been outcast or simply embarrassed by her circumstances. Whatever the reason, she waited until the heat of the day to go to the well.
Why did Jesus wait alone at the well? John tells us that He was tired from the journey, but I can’t imagine that He was any more tired than the rest of the disciples. Couldn’t they have sent one or two disciples to get food while they others waited outside the city? Even if they needed more hands, why did they all leave Jesus alone? Why were they even in Samaria?
At the beginning of the chapter, John tells us that Jesus knew the Pharisees were beginning to question His ministry. They’d heard that His disciples were more popular than John the Baptist, so Jesus left Jerusalem for a time. They were headed to Galilee. The typical route for traveling Jews was avoid the Samaritans by going the long way around. Most travelers would cross the Jordan and walk on the east bank so they would not be made unclean by Israelites that had mixed with other nationalities when they were captured by the Assyrians. They were put down by the Jews, cast out of the religious fellowship that was their birthright. They established a religious home of their own, founded upon the life of Jacob. She must have been surprised that He, who was out of His element, was insinuating that He was better than Jacob. Jesus and the disciples took a short cut which led right through Sychar, the site of Jacob’s Well because Jesus had a divine appointment to show the Samaritans that there was something better for them.
This is a long reading because John purposely gives us a lot of details. Jesus’ tiredness and thirst remind us of His humanity. The well reminds us of His heritage. The encounter with the woman was just the first of many that would identify Jesus as divine. Jesus was there because she had an appointment with God. She didn’t know it, but Jesus was waiting to change her life.
Her faith did not come easily. She was hesitant at the beginning. He reached her by asking her for the one thing she could give: water from the well. She seemed uncertain and responded with the question, “Who are you that you would speak to me?”
Pay attention to the tone of the woman’s answers to Jesus. She was distant, uninterested, and perhaps even afraid. She was surprised that He would have anything to do with her. When He offered her a drink, she was offended and became defensive, wondering how He could offer her anything better than her forefather, Jacob. She became interested when she heard that the water would make her life better because she wouldn’t suffer thirst. She was willing to believe that He could provide this living water. She humbly admitted her failings when He asked her to bring her husband. She was amazed when He could provide details that she did not give. Her fear of a strange man turned into respect for a prophet in just a few sentences. Then He spoke the promise of God into her life and revealed Himself as the One for whom they had been waiting. In this encounter, Jesus moved her from fear to hope to faith. Whatever her failings, she experienced the presence of God.
Jesus taught the woman that worship is not about where or who you are, it is about knowing the One whom you worship. The Samaritans had lost touch with the God of their fathers. They did not know about the promise of salvation that was to come from God. Jesus answered her questions with the promise that the day was coming when the walls that divide the people of God would be torn down because God would bring reconciliation to His people. She had some knowledge that a Messiah was coming but did not understand what He would mean to the world. The Samaritans were waiting for someone to teach them and make sense of the things of God. Jesus answered, “I am he, the one who speaks to you.”
This was an incredible revelation, and she was the first to hear it proclaimed. She was startled by the return of the disciples who quickly challenged her presence. “What is she doing here?” She left so quickly that she forgot her water jar, but she went into the city unconcerned about what others might think. “Come, see a man who told me everything that I did. Can this be the Christ?” Many in that town accepted her invitation and went out to meet Jesus. He stayed with them for two days and taught them about the Kingdom of God. In the end they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of your speaking; for we have heard for ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.”
The woman at the well was chosen, out of all the women in her village, to be the one to take the Good News of God’s Kingdom to her people. It was an odd choice, considering her life experiences. But that’s how God works, isn’t it?
Jesus sat at the well for a divine appointment that changed a life and a city. He called out to the woman; He relieved her fears, answered her questions, and offered her something better than she had. God has done the same for us. The difference between God and man was too great for human beings to overcome on our own. We have sinned against Him in our own testing and demands. We have not trusted in His Word or waited for His promises. We never deserved the grace He came to give; we deserve only death. Yet, as Paul wrote, we are reconciled to God through Christ Jesus.
People questioned Paul’s credibility, although for a different reason. Paul suffered. We do not know the source of all his sufferings. He had some illness that is not specifically defined that caused him pain. For the people in Paul’s day, any sort of suffering was considered a sign of that person’s unrighteousness. The righteous person, the person in a right relationship with God, would not be ill or suffering. Paul was also suffering because of enemies. Surely God would protect him from that pain? Paul’s credibility was questioned because he did not appear to have God’s favor upon him.
Paul wrote about peace. We think peace comes with perfection. We think we will have peace when we are safe, healthy, and comfortable. We think the blessed life is filled with good things, just as they did in Paul’s day. Too many ministers preach that if you appear successful, then God’s hand must surely be on you. They still see suffering as a sign that something is wrong between man and God. However, Paul gives us a different perspective. He says, “Not only this, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope doesn’t disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
Suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; character, hope. This process doesn’t end with peace; we don’t gain peace because everything is perfect. We begin with peace, knowing that God has justified us through grace which we have through Jesus Christ. Having that peace does not mean that nothing bad will ever happen to us. As a matter of fact, the suffering we face in Christ will actually strengthen us. As we persevere through our suffering, the world sees our character and our character gives them hope. People are amazed by those who still believe in the midst of great suffering. They see hope in the life of the faithful and they see God in that hope. Though some might question the integrity of a Christian in suffering, it is the very peace they experience in the midst of suffering that stands as a sign of their faith to the world.
The woman at the well quarreled and tested Jesus, but in the end she received the gift of faith in the Messiah, the One who would give her Living Water that would quench her thirst for lasting relationship with God. That Living Water didn’t stay pent up deep of her soul, though; she ran to the village to share the Good News. She learned in this very brief encounter that God did not reject her because of her past or her present, and that He would still provide for her needs despite her quarreling and testing. She went forth in joy to share the Good News with others.
The people of Israel tested God, but it was the people who were being tested. Would they be faithful? Would they trust God? Would they learn how to live as His people in the place where they were being led? We think that suffering is a sign of God’s abandonment; they certainly did in the days of the Exodus. We think that health, wealth, and success are the signs of a perfect life. The reality is so different. Faith and faithfulness do not guarantee a lack of suffering. Faith and faithfulness help us to get through everything we have to face in this life.
We have joined the Israelites in their desert wanderings during our forty days of Lent. We thirst, but water is not always at hand. We can respond in two ways. First, we can harden our hearts; we can let the experience of suffering and pain make us angry, bitter, and resentful. We can blame others, like the Israelites did. We can even blame God. We can complain and provoke Him, demand justice and expect that He will do our will.
Or we can respond as the woman at the well. She began confused, angry or afraid, but with a willing heart she experienced God’s grace and found peace. Suffering can have a positive effect on our lives, because it helps us turn to God and seek His help. God promised that He would be near. He didn’t say our life would be perfect, but He promised He would be near. He is always much closer than we expect. He is listening, waiting, preparing to meet our troubles with His grace. Our hearts can be hardened by a lack of trust, but if we trust in God’s faithfulness, we’ll experience peace even in those times of trouble. We can go forth in joy to share the Gospel with others so that God’s grace will transform them into the people God is calling them to be.
The psalmist warns us to not be like those who tested God. They did not trust Him and never knew His peace. When we look to God as the rock of our salvation, we will live in the hope He gives through faith. We are diamonds in the rough, but no matter our circumstances we can trust that God is ready to meet our needs. He is able to make springs of water flow out of rocks, to give living water without a bucket, to relieve the thirst of the world. We find peace in the waters of baptism and in the living water that continues to sanctify us as we journey through life in this world.
Like those treasure hunters, our God finds us and cleans us until we are beautiful jewel that glorifies Him. He digs deep into our garbage to reveal the faith that makes us His children. It is hard sometimes. We are tested. We will struggle. We will fail. We will never be perfect in this world, but Jesus doesn’t throw us away. He keeps at the work, always moving forward until the day we join in the heavenly host singing praise to the God of our salvation forever.
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