We witness the marriage ceremony of a man and a woman who have decided to commit to each other in sacred matrimony. According to their tradition, the engagement lasted one year. They were faithful to celibacy during this period. Family members and friends from the neighborhood are present to witness and experience this celebration. I hear music accompanied by dancing. There is laughter, delicious food and lots to drink. Well, until…
The seven days of festivities are not over, but something horrible is happening. The host lacks wine. It’s a crisis!
I am referring to John 2:1-8 (NIV):
“‘On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee. The mother of Jesus was there, and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus said to him, They have no wine. Jesus said to her, Woman, what have I to do with you? My hour is not yet come. His mother said to the servants, Whatever he says to you, do it. Jews for ceremonial washing, each containing twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water” so they filled them to the brim, “Now take some and bring it to the master of the banquet.”
I have a question: “Mary, why did you think this was the right time to ask Jesus to perform a miracle? I hear him say: “I didn’t ask him to perform a miracle. » When I think about the text, I see it for myself. Mary did not ask Jesus to perform a miracle. She only informed him about the status of the celebration. She expected Jesus to have the ability to do something! In the NIV verse 4, Jesus himself says, “Why are you involving me in this?
This seems like a reasonable question, which leads me to another thought, so I invited myself back into the story. “Mary, why did you think Jesus could do something to help this family avoid the embarrassment and shame of not having enough wine?” Mary miraculously gave birth to Jesus the Savior. How could she not believe that He could step in and do whatever was necessary?
I appreciate Mary’s example during this crisis, which certainly could have had a different outcome. She wasted no time in finding her own solution. Wisdom and experience told him to go to the Source, able to do whatever was necessary during this time of great need.
This passage of Scripture may be familiar to us, but we should not allow that familiarity to lead us to downplay the valuable observations worth repeating in our lives when we desire to see God’s action in our crises.
Here are four that I would like to highlight:
1. We can trust God to do what is best for us
Sometimes we say we trust God, but we are worried and tired, wondering how He will respond to our requests. Mary made her request known to Jesus and left assured that her request had been heard by Jesus and answered. His actions demonstrate 1 John 5:14-15 (KJV):
“And this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us: and if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked of him.
I have been guilty of praying to God for help and then trying to figure out how He would fulfill my request. Have you ever done this? Then I remember Proverbs 3:5-6 (AMP), which asks us to: “Trust and rely on the Lord with confidence with all your heart And do not lean on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways know Him, acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight and smoother. [removing obstacles that block your way]”.
2. Surround yourself with prayer intercessors
Notice in the story that neither the groom nor the groom’s father asked Jesus for help. They were only the benefactors of the request of a person present. Mary clearly cared about this family and wanted them to be spared public humiliation from lack of wine. There are many examples of intercessory prayer in the Bible:
-Abraham prays for Sodom – Genesis 18:20-23
-Paul prays for the churches he established – Ephesians 3, Philippians 1, Colossians 1
-Jesus prays for his murderers – Luke 23:34
-Jesus prays for us, God’s chosen ones, as he sits at the right hand of God – Romans 8:34
3. God expects us to do what He has given us the ability to do
When our natural capacity is exhausted, God adds His supernatural to our natural to bring the supernatural into being. Jesus asked the servants to fill the pots with water. I applaud the servants for following Mary’s instructions: “Whatever he says, do.” » Minions put their abilities into action. They could walk and carry the jars; either individually or by working together. They had the ability to fill pots with water.
Eric Johnson, in an online message Mixture of theology This article gives a good overview of the amount of work required of servants. He describes how each pot contained two to three fir trees. A single fir tree equals almost nine gallons, so two to three fir trees meant each pot carried about 18 to 27 pounds! Six pots therefore represented 162 gallons of water. I wonder if the servants expected to put in so much work at the front desk.
I imagine it’s possible that the servants thought inwardly that the work would be too much for them. Often we hesitate to do something that God has inspired us to do because we think it will be too difficult. The truth is that we don’t always know what we can do before we do it! Whether they realized it or not, Jesus saw in them that they had the ability to accomplish their mission. Just in case you were wondering, Jesus sees the same thing in you!
Jesus had the power to snap his fingers or speak and the water would have filled the jars. Instead of exercising his unlimited power, he allowed the servants to participate in this miracle using the ability they had within themselves. Have you ever thought that God was moving too slowly to move things in your favor? Could it be that you have the capacity to do more and that God is waiting for you?
4. God blesses us along the way
As the servants followed Jesus’ instructions, the miracle occurred. This scenario reminds me of the lepers Jesus healed Luke 17:12-14:
“And as he entered into a certain village, ten leprous men, standing afar off, met him. They lifted up their voices and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when he saw them, he said to them, God, show yourself to the priests. And it came to pass, that as they departed, they were cleansed. ”
When we face a crisis, God is aware of what we are going through. He does not always reveal straight away how he is going to manage the crisis. We just need to 1) do what God says, 2) find trusted prayer partners to intercede on our behalf, 3) do what part we have the ability to do, and then 4) trust God to bless us along the way as we obey His instructions. So watch God work on our behalf. Crisis resolved!
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/digitalskillet
Sandra Cobb is a grateful mother of three extraordinary children and grandmother of nine precious grandchildren. She is a certified forgiveness coach, speaker and author of “Free to Forgive.” She is passionate about sharing God’s love and testimonies of His faithfulness!
