Jesus’ journey to the woman at the well in Samaria offers insights and hope for women today to make peace with the past, find hope in the present, and step into the future. God wants us to move toward the goodness He has planned for us. But what do we do when challenges stop our forward momentum? What’s the next step when we fall into a pit of despair with the determination knocked right out of … right out of us?
On his way from Judea to Galilee, Jesus traveled through Samaria, a broken place everyone knew to avoid. In Samaria he stopped in Shechem, where evil had gained such a foothold of power that it eventually reigned. Yet the place once condemned as somewhere no one wanted to visit–let alone hang out in for a while–was the location of one Samaritan woman’s most hope-filled encounter with the Savior.
The In-Between Place offers deeply important insights to anyone who feels stuck and can’t see a way forward. It is for the person who feels that if she looks left, her face will be scraped by an immovable boulder, and if she looks right, she’ll see nothing but hard to handle. It’s for the person who feels lost and is not sure she is worth the effort to be found, for the person who feels overlooked and unfulfilled. Because sometimes Jesus saves our greatest spiritual breakthroughs for our in-between places.
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The Lord has really been speaking to me lately through the written word, and one of those books is The In-Between Place by Kat Armstrong. I have heard the story of the Samaritan woman in John 4 many times in my years as a Christian, but Kat gives a fresh perspective to a tale that is so easily overlooked, diving deeper into the text, and showing us that Jesus can change us no matter where we are, or where we’ve been.
From the first page you can feel Kat’s passion for this message. She has went through her own excruciating in-between places, and shares her heart, her witnessing is so encouraging for those of us that are currently in in-between places. An in-between place can be any place that you feel stuck, where nothing makes sense, or when life and circumstances are so hard, and there is nothing you can do. In my mind I envision it to be when you feel like you’re “stuck between a rock and a hard place.” You are in-between.
For me, The In-Between Place was a light at the end of the tunnel, a beacon of hope and encouragement, and a great reminder that God has been with me through it all, and continues to give me strength as I go through the trails of life. It’s time to make peace with your past, have undeniable hope in the present, and the strength and power to finish strong in the future.
This is a wonderful resource, and is actually meant to be studied as a group, thus making it perfect for Bible studies or classes, and is such a needed resource since we can all agree the pandemic is an in-between place all its own! Grab a copy of this book and get that encouragement we all need, have hope and faith, and be reminded that Jesus is always with us in our in-between places.
*I have voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book which I received from the author/publisher through JustRead Tours. All views and opinions are completely honest, and my own.
I’ve read the story of the Samaritan woman at the well many times but this new book has given me a deeper understanding of John 4. The In-Between Place reminded me that this woman who had been judged by so many and cast aside was actually a woman whose life had been altered by tragic circumstances. She was in an “in-between place’, a place that certainly wasn’t where she had hoped to be. Suddenly, a man who knew all about her, who seemed to understand her as no one ever had, was talking to her! He was telling her about His gift of living water and giving her a glimpse of what her life could become. Is it any wonder that she dropped her heavy water jug and ran to town to urge the people to come see this man?
Author Kat Armstrong encourages us to be like this Samaritan woman who was so anxious to tell others about Jesus and His living water. We women today also l carry heavy water jugs: balancing our jobs and family, taking care of our physical health, and perhaps problems in our personal relationships. Are these water jugs weighing us down and keeping us from enjoying what He has given us? Do they prevent us from sharing the promise of God’s Grace and Jesus’s living water with others?
The In-Between Place is enlightening, encouraging, and inspiring, and it is a book to read, absorb, and share with others. I believe that it would be a choice for a Women’s Bible Study group.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher but there was no obligation for a favorable review. These are my own thoughts.