Have you ever messed up so badly that it left you believing God wants nothing to do with you? If your answer is "yes," then you’re in good company, because we all have. There was one point in my life that I believed God could never forgive me for what I had done. I felt like a lost cause. I wasn’t though. A bad decision can cost you your marriage, job, friendships and even your peace of mind but it can’t seperate you from the love of Jesus.

This past weekend I was walking around my yard surveying the damage the deep freeze did to my landscaping during Christmas. I was so sad. It was obvious the cold killed some of my plants and bushes. There is no hope of them coming to life this spring and I’ll have to replace them. Do you feel like there is no hope for your life? There’s a woman talked about in the Bible that gives proof that no one is so messed up that they can’t be restored in Christ.

In John 4 Jesus encounters an unnamed Samaritan woman at a well. This woman carried a terrible reputation. Her past put her in the category of a Hall of Fame sinner.  She had been married five times and was living with a man who wasn’t her husband. Everyone in her community knew her and she was looked down upon. No man would dare to speak with her in public. No man, except Jesus! She was broken and hopeless. Even though Jesus was Jewish and she was a Samaritan (those groups did not associate together), it did not stop him from talking to her. He asked her for a drink of water. The woman replied, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman replied, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” Jesus goes on to explain He is the Messiah and the living water her soul is craving. Jesus was not intimidated by the woman’s past or the sin she was living in. He went to great lengths to meet her where she was at and that day she became a child of God.

Jesus is not intimidated by your past or sin either. He sees beyond our failures and offers us a faithful future. You can’t do anything so bad that it will cause God to love you less. Romans 8:38 & 39 says, “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.  No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The foliage that’s dead in my yard has no hope of coming back to life and I will plant something new in its place. Your heart may feel dead and beyond repair but nothing is beyond Jesus. You are precious to Him and can’t be replaced. He desires for you to be brought to life in Him and spend eternity with Him.

If you’re reading this today and feel like Jesus wants nothing to do with you, I want you to know that He will break every possible barrier to reach you, just like he did for the Samaritan woman. If you’d like to talk to and pray with someone about having a new life in Jesus, call our 24/7 hour prayer line at 877-800-7729. God is waiting for YOU!

-April Sather, 88.3 WAFJ Morning Show