The Samaritan woman from the city of Sychar found herself in the right place at the right time. It was the middle of the day, not the usual time for a trip to the well for the day’s water supply. She was at Jacob’s well, outside of town, on the major north-south road through Samaria, not at the local well in Sychar where you would expect her to draw her water. Scripture is silent as to the reasons for her choices that led her there at that particular time, but that has not stopped the speculations over the centuries. Regardless of whatever they may have been, however, they put her in the right place at the right time—God’s synchronicity at work in her life.

Being at the right place at the right time changed her life, from one obviously avoiding the fellowship of others to one rushing into their midst with reckless abandon, announcing the good news of the kingdom, taking up the mantle of evangelist to bring others to Christ Jesus. When we’re at the right place at the right time to meet Jesus face to face, our lives too can be turned around just as radically.

The right place isn’t necessarily a geographical location; it may be the right milestone on our spiritual journey. The right time isn’t necessarily noon or any other time of day. More likely, it is when we are ready to receive the living water Christ has prepared for us, when we perceive our need for forgiveness and reconciliation, when we experience God’s love filling all our empty spaces.

Far too often our self-centered choices lead us to all the wrong places at all the wrong times, and we get lost in the wilderness of sin. All the while, however, Christ Jesus is waiting at the well, waiting for our thirst to draw us into his life-giving presence, waiting for us to recognize our need of his saving grace. When we do, we discover it is the right place and the right time for us to turn around and go forth with the Lord.