The city of Samaria was a place that was avoided by the Jews. Although it was centered between Galilee and Judea, many would travel around Samaria instead of passing through it. The Jews felt that if they traveled through Samaria they would become contaminated, or tainted. So they avoided it at all costs.
This sounds logical, right? Avoiding something that you don’t really feel like dealing with? Going around things instead of addressing them? Like not going to your mother’s house because she complains a lot when she really just desires for someone to listen to her. Or maybe you’re in a check out line at the grocery store and you decide to leave it because the behavior of the guy in front of you is not to your standard all the while not realizing that he is probably just having a bad day and he needs some encouragement. It is in those moments that Jesus is calling us to walk through Samaria; not go around, not avoid, but go through. To go against the grain in order to meet the need of someone else. Because when you’re saved, it is in your DNA to serve others.
Compassion says, “I’ve been there; I know what you’re going through.” Compassion isn’t feeling bad; it’s about doing something because of what you felt. It’s in those moments that God breaks our hearts for what breaks His. Compassion sees people the way Jesus sees them-with LOVE.
So what is your Samaria? What have you been avoiding? Have you been trying to take the easy way out? Because with God, there are no short-cuts. What you’re going through right now might not just be for you. It is for God to get the glory, and for you to help impact the life of someone else who may be going through the same thing.
Some of the most challenging things I’ve gone through weren’t just for me, but for others too. To say hey, I’ve been there. I know what you’re going through and you’re not alone. You begin to see people as a ministry instead of a problem and it is out of the compassion in your heart that the desire to serve others develops.
Despite what people thought, Jesus went through Samaria. He came across a Samaritan woman, and in that moment he changed her life. The Bible says because of her testimony the lives of others in Samaria were changed that day.
What we do is a reflection of who we are. And what we go through is a bridge to someone else. We are not the light; the light shines through us so that through us all might believe.