“When I move, it will all be different,” I heard my friend say. Seeking to leave her hurt behind in Pennsylvania, she packed her bags for sunny Florida. But I knew even sunny Florida couldn’t solve all her problems.

Can you relate to my friend? Discontent with your current circumstances, you constantly think about the future. Maybe if I were married, had more money or had a better job, I would feel happy. Maybe if I could live somewhere else, I would feel at peace.

This thought process reminds me of the woman in John chapter 4. We don’t know much about this woman—except that she is from Samaria, and has a whopping five husbands. On her way to draw water from Jacob’s well with an empty jar, she encounters Jesus (John 4:7) and engages in a conversation with him.

Before long, Jesus says, “…Those who drink this water will get thirsty again, but those who drink the water that I will give them will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give them will become in them a spring which will provide them with life-giving water and give them eternal life” (John 4:13-14, GNTD). At the end of her conversation, this woman ran into town to share what she had learned.

The woman came to the well with an empty jar and left with eternal life through faith in Jesus. As I think about my friend’s decision to pack up and head south, I see her standing at the well with an empty jar. She has tried to find peace by changing things in her life, by searching for ‘greener grass.’ But her jar is still empty. Instead of seeking happiness through a companion, a baby, a new job or a new house —like we so often do—she needs to experience Jesus’ life-giving water. He is the giver of life.

Is your life feeling empty? There is a Jesus-sized hole in your heart that only He can fill. Today, if your life feels empty, meditate on these three verses:

1.  May God, the source of hope, fill you with all joy and peace by means of your faith in him, so that your hope will continue to grow by the power of the Holy Spirit. – Romans 15:13 (GNTD
2.  The thief comes only in order to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come in order that you might have life – life in all its fullness. – John 10:10 (GNTD)
3.  God loves you and has chosen you as his own special people. – Colossians 3:12 (CEV)
   

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   Meet Nena…..Nena Podbury is a project associate at American Bible Society. Originally from the Bronx, she has co-authored children’s curriculum and served in children’s ministry for 12 years doing Sidewalk Sunday School. Nena is married with two children, Noah and Emilia.