Message: In John chapter 2 we read about the
first miracle Jesus performed. It was turning the water to wine at a wedding
that had run out. I’ve heard this story discussed in so many ways, but today
what stood out to me the most was- how did Mary know? Obviously she knew that
Jesus was special. Her angel encounters, virgin birth and watching him grow up
with supernatural wisdom, knowledge and understanding. But when she approached
him with this problem, he had not yet performed any miracles. At least not
publicly. He told her right away that this problem had nothing to do with him
and that his “time had not come”.She looked past all of that and told
the servants to “do whatever he tells you to do” and left. How did she really
know? The other thing that stood out to me was that when the master of
ceremonies noticed that the quality of the wine was far superior to what they
had been drinking. Jesus wasn’t playing. He didn’t even want to do this
miracle, but he did anyway and not only exceeded the expectation, but he also
exceeded the norm. This is how God works!
Command: TRUST that God is faithful and he has
better ideas and plans than we could ever imagine!
Promise: When God does it, it will exceed the
expectation.
Warning: Our own plans and ideas don’t please
God. He is not moved by our manipulation or our doubts.
Application: I feel like I pray for God to move but
then I have my own ideas and expectations of what that will look like. Sometimes
I reluctantly trust him to work on my behalf but deep inside I hope it will be
good enough. Mary had not even seen a miracle yet, but she trusted so
confidently that she ignored his protest and walked away knowing it would be
done. She didn’t advise Jesus on how this should go down, or what he should
use. She advised the servants to do whatever Jesus said to do.
They must have thought he was crazy when he told them to fill those jugs with
wash water but they did it AND they obeyed his instruction to scoop some out
and give it to the master of ceremonies. I wonder if they could see that it
looked like wine before they scooped it out to give the master of ceremonies,
or if they scooped out water first. Jesus not only performed the miracle, but he
exceeded the expectation. It seems he was moved by Mary’s confidence in him and
couldn’t deny rewarding it. I wonder what would happen if we walked away from
our situations confidently knowing that not only would it be done, but it would
be done far better than we ever imagined!
