Beyond the Front Door

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

I never expected to discover keys to spiritual growth from having both knees replaced at once. My go-to Bible verse was Jude 1:24 (NLT). “Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling.” Not having a leg to stand on made my stomach clench as I considered the danger of falling down the steps in my Hong Kong flat. In fact, thoughts of any movement from Point A to Point B had the same effect. 

Nevertheless, regular physical therapy proved to be the secret to recovery. Twice a week for three months, my husband drove me to the hospital, where the therapist forced my knees to bend and insisted I exercise to strengthen my leg muscles. Every session hurt. Progress was slow and often imperceptible. But I learned something essential. Healing didn’t come from wishing my body were stronger but from showing up, submitting to the process, and doing the hard work again and again. Even when it felt pointless and painful.

That experience proved to be an apt metaphor for spiritual growth, which requires daily faithfulness in the face of demanding tasks. I found the same truth embedded in the story of the woman at the well.

Keys to Spiritual Growth from the Woman at the Well (John 4:3-42)

1. Show Up in Faithful Obedience

We imagine transformation occurring in sacred spaces, such as quiet sanctuaries, uninterrupted prayer times, or moments when life settles down. But Scripture tells a different story. Jesus met people on roads, in fields, and at wells. In ordinary places, interrupted routines, painful situations, and unplanned conversations.

The Samaritan woman didn’t arrive at Jacob’s well outside of Shechem looking for transformation. She came because the household needed water, and the responsibility fell to her. Perhaps she’d already made one trip and dragged her feet on the second, wondering how she could survive endless days of unending demands.

Her breath hitched when she saw an unknown man sitting beside the well. Not just any man but a Jew. She stiffened when he asked her for a drink. Jewish men didn’t even speak to their wives in public. Why would a Jewish man ask a Samaritan woman for anything?

2. Stay Through the Discomfort

The woman’s village bore the name and scars of painful memories. Shechem, another foreigner, had raped Jacob’s daughter Dinah there (Genesis 34). The thought made her skin crawl. The stranger made no move to threaten her, so she stayed to question his motives.

“You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (John 4:9 NIV)

Instead of justifying himself, Jesus turned the tables and challenged her. “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” (John 4:10 NIV).

Jesus didn’t explain his request or offer promises he couldn’t fulfill. Instead, he invited her to open her eyes to unimagined possibilities. To trust him to give her what she didn’t know she needed. 

The Samaritan woman’s discomfort increased when Jesus nailed her greatest grief—five broken relationships and her current husband-less situation. Yet she stayed in the conversation. She kept responding. She listened, questioned, and engaged, even when the exchange unsettled her assumptions and exposed her painful past. His discernment opened her eyes to his identity. Step by step, Jesus unfolded the truth. Revelation and recognition occurred. Spiritual growth took place. Although the woman didn’t arrive at the well transformed, she left as a changed woman because she remained present and involved.

3. Share What God Is Doing

The woman at the well found in Jesus the love and acceptance she sought. His revelation that he was the Messiah was too good to keep to herself. With her heart overflowing, she left her water jar and ran back to town to share the news. The villagers raced to meet the man who knew her inside out, the man sent by God to them.

Her growth didn’t end at the well but overflowed into witness, worship, and a new identity as one of God’s chosen people. God used her simple, faithful act of going to the well to meet the needs of her household to give her and many others his living water.

What Physical Therapy Taught Me About Spiritual Growth

Be Faithful

Like most people, I didn’t go to physical therapy because I felt ready or motivated. Though I dreaded the pain, I wanted to walk again. I persevered, even though progress sometimes seemed nonexistent. Healing required commitment, not comfort.

Spiritual growth works this way, too. Small, repeated acts of obedience shape our spiritual growth. Biting our tongues when we’d prefer to lash out, reading the Bible in times of crisis, trusting God despite uncertain outcomes.

Push Past the Pain

Physical therapy only works if we stick with it. Most days, I wanted to quit. Bending my knees felt impossible. However, each session, no matter how difficult, strengthened weak muscles.

Spiritual growth also involves discomfort. The battle against our sin nature requires perseverance. To become more like Jesus, we must stay connected to him even when obedience is hard, answers are incomplete, and change feels slow. Growth doesn’t come from avoiding tension, but from remaining present in it.

Fruit-Bearing Follows Obedience

Over time, strength formed. Stability returned. Progress became evident. I only recognized how far I’d come once I realized I could stand, walk, and move in ways I couldn’t before.

Like physical therapy, spiritual growth is often imperceptible. Nonetheless, when we show up, stay committed, and trust God, fruit will appear. What God strengthens in us through daily faithfulness and sustained relationship becomes a source of encouragement for others walking through similar valleys. Like the woman at the well, God knows everything we’ve done, still loves us, and wants to use us to build his kingdom. Sharing him blesses us and others.

Spiritual Growth May Be Slow, but God Is Still at Work

Even the atheist philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche recognized that long obedience in the same direction results in a life worth living. These keys to spiritual growth can help us persevere so we’ll become more like Jesus. God is still at work—meeting us in ordinary places, asking us to trust him step by step, and forming strength through faithful obedience.

Where is God inviting you to keep showing up day after day in the slow but life-changing work of spiritual growth?

3 Keys to Spiritual Growth: Lessons from the Woman at the Well by @NancyLucenay on Beyond the Front Door Share on X

Join the Conversation

I’d love to hear from you! What keys to spiritual growth would you add? Share your thoughts and suggestions in the Comments box at the bottom of the page. (If you don’t see the Comments box, click Read More and scroll down.)