Jesus was invited to a wedding where the wine ran short. At a Jewish wedding, that would have dishonored the family of the bride and groom because they had not provided for the guests as a good family should have. That is when Jesus’s mother pleaded with Him to do something.
Jesus gave instruction to the servants to fill water jars. It wasn’t the most plausible resolution attempt, but Jesus’s mother told the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it” (John 2:5, NKJV). So, that’s exactly what they did. They filled the buckets to the brim. The water jars held 180 gallons, so the number of trips to the city well with their gallon-or-so buckets would have taken them a while. There were no water faucets to turn on and no hoses. It was a bucket brigade to fill the voluminous water pots.
Then Jesus asked them to take a ladleful from the newly filled water pots to the master of the banquet. I’m certain these servants felt foolish doing what they were asked to do. I would have!
But when the master of the banquet tried the liquid (that had been turned to wine), he became ecstatic. The flavor! The bouquet! The palate! “Why,” he exclaimed, “this wedding has saved the very best for last!” (John 2:5-10, NKJV, paraphrased).
When did the water actually turn into wine? Where—along the line of fetching the buckets, walking to the well, scooping the water, over several trips—did this transformative miracle take place; when did the common become the miraculous? Do you know? Does it say?
Maybe it was when they drew the water. Or when it touched the master of the banquet’s lips. We are not told explicitly, but it must have happened somewhere in between. It took place somewhere in that process of obedience. While working through the doubts, they put one foot in front of the other in willing compliance to the Master Himself. It was the forward motion of obeying what they heard instead of slipping out the back door in embarrassment.
I think God designed it to happen that way.
Miracles often hide in the day-to-day steps of obedience. In the oftentimes common, and sometimes monotonous, tasks where we are simply following Jesus, they happen. Listening to Him, learning what He wants us to be doing each moment, each morning, each day—somewhere in our following, we turn around and the water has turned to wine. We don’t know exactly when or where that miraculous alchemy takes place. We can’t point to a certain service or to that certain moment. All we know is that somewhere along the line, old thoughts become new, our family becomes more content, our work more fulfilling and our influence richer.
Miracles hide in day-to-day obedience. We love the grand services and the roar of the concerts, but the greatest miracles often hide. They hide in simple moments of devotion. They hide when we struggle with doubts when we don’t see wine yet. Miracles may hide, but they are not absent. They are present and will soon be revealed.
True servants will find that out. The others will be left by the back door.
Prayer Points
- Pray that the Lord will help leaders to have the courage necessary not only to be in a position of leadership, but also to do the work of a leader (Joshua 1:8-9).
- Pray for the leaders of our Foursquare family, that God will continue to give us vision for our future.
- Pray for men and women in spiritual leadership to be men and women of great virtue and character.
Share your thoughts. See comments below, and add your own.
