Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: Beginning and End (06/04/26)
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TITLE: Six Husbands and a Savior | Previous Challenge Entry
By Marilyn Meiners
06/09/26 -
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Before I could experience a life filled with freedom and peace, something had to be removed. That “something,” though I didn’t realize it at the time, was my sin.
Let me tell you my story.
I grew up in Sychar, a town in Samaria. Life was not easy. My family was deeply broken. My mother had been married three times, and the man she was living with now was not my father. In truth, I’m not even sure who my father is.
When I turned fifteen, my mother said to me, “Hilda, it’s time you start looking for a husband. I can’t take care of you forever.”
I was only fifteen. I didn’t want to get married—but I also didn’t want to end up on the streets. Not in Samaria. So I did what I felt I had to do.
I was considered beautiful, and men noticed me. Before my sixteenth birthday, I was married. But what I hoped would bring security and happiness only brought disappointment. By the time I was thirty, I had been married six times.
“Why can’t I find lasting happiness?” I would ask myself over and over again.
Determined not to make another mistake, I chose not to marry again. Instead, I lived with a man outside of marriage. That decision only deepened my shame. The women of Sychar despised me for it. They shunned me, ignored me, and whispered about me behind my back.
It became unbearable.
So, I began going to draw water at noon—the hottest part of the day—just to avoid them.
One particular day, under the blazing sun, I picked up my water jar and made the long, twenty-minute walk to Jacob’s well. There were no trees for shade, no relief from the heat. As I approached, I noticed a man standing there.
“Oh great,” I muttered to myself. “If he thinks I’m available, he’s mistaken. I already have one man at home—that’s enough.”
When I reached the well, the man spoke.
“Will you give me a drink?”
I stared at him, surprised. “How is it that you, a Jew, ask me—a Samaritan woman—for a drink? Jews don’t associate with Samaritans.”
He looked at me with calm intensity and said, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him—and He would have given you living water.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. I looked around. He didn’t even have a bucket.
“Living water?” I said. “You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where are you going to get this ‘living water’?”
Then he said my name.
“Hilda.”
I froze. “Wait—how do you know my name? I never told you.”
“Hilda,” he continued gently, “I know everything about you. And I know that you are thirsty—not for water, but for something more. You’re thirsty for a new life. A fresh beginning. Tell me…are you satisfied with your life?”
I looked down, my voice soft. “No…not really. Nothing seems to satisfy me. I don’t even know what I’m searching for—but I do know this…no man has been able to give it to me.”
“You’re right,” he said. “You’ve had six husbands, and the man you’re living with now is not your husband.”
I stood there, stunned. No stranger could have known that.
“Sir…are you a prophet?” I asked.
He met my gaze and said, “I am more than a prophet, Hilda. I long to be your Messiah—the One who can give you a new beginning and bring an end to your old life.”
My heart began to race. “What must I do?” I asked. “How do I receive this new life?”
“Believe,” he said, “that I am the Messiah—the One who takes away the sins of the world. The One you’ve been searching for.”
Tears filled my eyes.
“I have been waiting for the Messiah,” I said, my voice trembling. “And now…here you are.”
I laughed through my tears.
“Yes—I want this living water. Please…forgive me. Give me a new beginning. Come into my life, Jesus. Be my Living Water.”
And in that moment, everything changed.
The life I had known ended…
and a new life had just begun.
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