When a lone woman came to draw water, He went for her heart with spiritual aggression. He somehow mustered up the strength to minister even when He was physically exhausted. Anyone who has ever done anything for God has had a laboring heart. Ministering hearts are disciplined to labor, move beyond their comfort zones, put themselves in vulnerable spots, make commitments which cost, get tired for Christ's sake, pay the price, and encounter rough seas. But their sails billow full of God's Spirit.
Racial differences form some of the most daunting barriers in the world.
Jesus crossed that difficult relational barrier in order to reach out to the Samaritan woman. Australian Anglican Bishop John Reed relates that early in his ministry he was driving a bus carrying a full mix of black aboriginal boys and white boys on an outing. As they filed in, the white boys took one side and the blacks the other. And as the trip went on, they exchanged jibes with increasing intensity. Finally Reed could take it no longer.