The Woman at the Well: God’S Better Plan

By Amanda Jack

Dearly beloved,

Where do you run to when you are stuck between a rock and a hard place? Are you wondering how did I get here and how will I turn it around? The good news is that there is a real answer to your real problem. There is a way out, and it starts with a simple decision to leave where you are now and go to your secret place, to meet the King of the universe.

The Woman at the Well is a woman that is cognizant of her limitations, faults, potential and wants more than what she currently has. She is a woman that has a burning in her soul and is seeking an honorable outlet for that fire. She is thirsty for what she doesn't know, but she is well aware that without it she is less than who she is meant to be. She may be battered, torn, bruised even hurt but she knows that is not how her story ends. So she embarks on a journey of discovery, rediscovery, love and beauty in the presence of the Lord accompanied by His Holy Spirit. A journey that will forever change the course of her life.

Grace to you in the precious name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Sep 19, 2017
• ISBN: 9781512792553

Amanda Jack

Amanda Jack is a young woman who grew up on the shores of the Caribbean, to the sounds of waves, steelpan and calypso. Growing up she loved the music of carnival and parang and wrote short stories to pass the time. Twenty carnivals later, she faced her own personal waterloo. From this defeat, she began her personal journey with Lord. She now has a new perspective on life based on the woman she used to be and the woman that she is now. A product of the Spice Isle, Amanda is now uniquely positioned to reach out to a generation of people seeking a change in their life. As she found out on her journey of discovery, there is more to life than what meets the eye. A trek through the tropical mountains of the Caribbean is never dull or boring and so she has found of the time spent in the presence of the Lord. Amanda is a different woman, with a different message for a time such as this.

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Copyright © 2017 Amanda Jack.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

NKJV:

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

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Bloomington, IN 47403

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-5127-9254-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-9253-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-9255-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017910051

WestBow Press rev. date: 09/13/2017

To my husband Lenroy,

my beautiful daughters Jahzara, Shiloh, Trisha

and my baby sister Sarmanta

without whom this journey wouldn’t have been so rewarding.

Love always xoxo

Isaiah 61:1–3

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me,

Because the LORD has anointed Me

To preach good tidings to the poor;

He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,

To proclaim liberty to the captives,

And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,

And the day of vengeance of our God;

To comfort all who mourn,

To console those who mourn in Zion,

To give them beauty for ashes,

The oil of joy for mourning,

The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;

That they may be called trees of righteousness,

The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.

CONTENTS

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter 1     A Special Meeting

Chapter 2     Escaping Egypt

Chapter 3     Psalm 23

Chapter 4     A Wilderness Experience

Chapter 5     At the Crossroads

Chapter 6     Life’s Purpose

Chapter 7     Forgiveness for Your Soul

Chapter 8     A Better Plan

Chapter 9     The Prodigal Returns

Chapter 10   Walking on Water

Chapter 11   Reach out and Touch Your Healing

Chapter 12   Defeating Your Fears

Chapter 13   Can These Bones Live Again?

Chapter 14   Taste and See

Chapter 15   Rivers of Living Water

About The Author

FOREWORD

F rom the time we hit adolescence, we believe we have life all figured out. We know (or think we do) everything about our life and the great, big world around us. We accept advice only if it fits into our outlook (limited though it may be). We figure out our graduations, wedding, job all at the ripe old age of fifteen. Then we set about putting those plans in motion. All of that is noble, for a man without a plan is a drifter, going along with the tides of time and the world.

Most folks will tell you that they didn’t achieve half of those lofty goals, and some they did, but it wasn’t as satisfying as when they dreamed it up. Many people live a fulfilling life that does not include half the things they planned when they were young.

The problem is that we do the majority of this planning without the input of the Grand Architect of this world. All this planning without once asking the Creator what He thought or had in mind when He created you. How many of those plans have left you shipwrecked: out at sea, in the midst of a storm, with no lifeboat and no help in sight? How many times has the search for fulfilment based on those plans left you lost, empty, and sad?

Without God, those plans are the recipe for disaster. Brokenness, heartache, regrets, and disappointment are examples of what we can expect when we attempt to go at it without the guiding hand of God. Yes, we have great, good plans for our lives, but God has a better plan. There is no way that a human with limited thinking can plan better than a God that has existed for all of time. He is the only God that can tell you about tomorrow before today has come.

Jesus said, "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." The devil has an evil plan for you, you have an okay plan for yourself, but God has an abundant plan for you. Abundant here implies plentiful, more than enough, beyond all your imaginations.

There is indeed a better plan for your life. It might not look or feel like it, but God indeed has a better plan for your life. Tapping into that better life begins when you come to the end of yourself and embrace the child of God that lies asleep within you. It means forsaking all that you had planned for your life, sometimes for a season. Who knows? God may bring you right back there, but this time it works because He has led you there.

God’s better plan is not a waste of time. Every minute you give over to the plan is an investment, with eternal reward. The world will tell you otherwise, for it wants to continue to use and abuse you and throw you out when it has had its fill of you. God desires to take the grief, sadness, and death and replace it with joy, laughter, and life.

The best news is that you can accept this better plan anytime, as long as you are alive. There are no conditions attached to this, and no one shall be turned away. All you have to do is come to God, willing to exchange all you have for what He wants to offer you.

INTRODUCTION

Loose her and bring her to me …, for I have need of her (Matthew 21: 2–3).

I was in a relationship that was depleting me. I knew somewhere inside of me that it was wrong, but I did nothing because I was afraid to give up on the dreams, and I kept remembering the love we shared, the good times we had. The hardest part about giving up on a forever relationship is admitting that you failed, that your love wasn’t enough, that you are not as perfect as you believe.

I think that my biggest mistake was trying to build a house on a foundation that was structurally damaged (corrupted), compromised. Refusing to deal with a problem doesn’t make it go away; all it does is cause it to escalate till it becomes unmanageable. At the first sign of trouble I should have run; instead, I stayed, hoping that I would be appreciated. I remained thinking that my love would change him, that my love would fill those empty spaces that he had. But a person who doesn’t want to change cannot be changed, not even by my love. My faithfulness, loyalty, and commitment to making us work weren’t enough to get me what I needed.

January 2010 to November 2011 had to be the most emotionally trying time of my life. I was up, down, and everything in between. The highlight was the birth of my daughter in June 2010, but then in November 2010, the roof caved in on me. The pretty but shaky house that I was building fell down, and not one plank or board was left in place. The foundation was left exposed, and every crack was visible to the peering eyes.

You would have thought I would have cut and run then, but I stayed, determined to make it work. As the old people say, I band down my belly and got down to work. But a relationship without reciprocity is bound to fail, and so in July 2011, it was just me and my daughter (this time in my hands) again. How do you get someone who doesn’t want to be there to understand how much you need them there? How do you let them know how hard it is to raise a child single-handedly?

It was in those questioning moments that I decided to leave my church and go to one that may help me find the answers that I was looking for. I was tired of pretending to be happy, tired of the tears, tired of sleeping but not resting, tired of all the questions. It got easier with each week I went to church, and the questions no longer bothered me. I was slowly coming to know my Lord and realising that I was loved all along. That love that my soul was longing for was waiting for me all along. I just had to reach out and touch it and accept it. And accept it I did. I gave my life to Christ in January 2012, and on Easter Sunday, I got baptised, a sign of my commitment to Christ.

Oh, what a joy, what a love I have found. The more I read His words, the more I come to know Him, the more He reveals Himself to me. Somewhere along the way, I fell in love with my Lord. My Saviour, my Redeemer has become the love of my life. I smile not because it is expected of me but because there is a joy down in my soul that needs to get out. I am single, but I am more loved now.

Yes, I finally left that relationship. I finally gave up. Through reading God’s words, I have come to realise what a true relationship is supposed to be, and mine wasn’t it. Since I want an earthly version of the love my Father has for me, I gave up. I loosed myself from that relationship because God wouldn’t send my husband to me if I was still caught up in that one. I had to let go and trust that my Father would not let me fall. I also let go because God had need of me. He had a job for me in His vineyard, and I couldn’t do it if I was caught up in a sinful relationship. So I made myself available to God, and He has been using me ever since. I exchanged one dream for another, one love for another, except this love will have no end.

I am using this season of singleness to get closer to my Father, to come to know Him through the daily reading of and meditation on His words. Sometimes, the enemy reminds me of my singleness, and I feel lonely, but then I remember where I was and ponder on what is to come, and I smile. I smile because I know that my later days will be twice as bright as my former days were dark.

So as I wait for my husband, the man whose life I am supposed to complete, a man after my Father’s heart, I am going to make myself useful in my Father’s vineyard. I am allowing Him to mold, shape, and prune me into the woman He wants to be. I have put on my armor of God and entering the battle with His love in my heart and His word in my mouth.

The girl has finally become a woman.

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CHAPTER 1

A Special Meeting

"Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. But He needed to go through