John 2:1-9
1 The third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there,
2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.
3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”
4 “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”
5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.
8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so,
9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that [just now]* had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside
10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”
*taken from Amplified Bible
Pretend you are the servant that Jesus is talking to. He asks you to fill up the washing bins, which today might be like a bath tub (I don’t know. I am not a bible scholar, I am making this up, but work with me here). And He says, “Draw some up and take it to the master of the banquet.”
EXCUSE ME? You want me to take bath water to my boss and have him drink it because we are out of wine? Ummmm… No, thank you, I’d like to keep my job.
But the servants took the water, which they knew was water and had the potential to stay water, like it has every other day of their life, to their master (insert the YIKES face).
They listened to Him. This probably could be a lesson (and probably is on someone else’s blog) on faith or trust, but God chose to reveal something else to me.
And as soon as he drank it, it turned to wine. Well that was unexpected.
I asked Him, “What is the significance of what happened? How does THIS apply to ME?” And, you know what? I think it’s a lot like this race I am on.
Many days on the race look like this:
Spending time with kids, holding them, teaching them the difference between 0 and 1 (for hours and days).
Teaching English and hoping, just hoping, they catch on to something, because the Lord knows I wasn’t trained to teach English.
Painting the floors of a school in Costa Rica or doing data input that hasn’t been done for 5 years (so clearly its a priority).
Praying for people on the street and what seems to be no visible change.
None of that feels significant, it doesn’t feel like I’m changing their life, or mine. It feels like I am not doing anything. Maybe like what that servant felt like? Not even knowing they were playing part of a miracle, just bringing water to someone else who got to taste the wine/miracle. (There may be other days in my life that I correlate wine and miracles, but this one is straight biblical.)
What He showed me was that I can’t be the judge of what is eternal and what is not. Many times in life, I am just the water bringer, not the wine taster. For all I know the prayers I prayed over those crazy kids will manifest when they turn 25 years old, I will never know. Or the hours of basic foundations of 0 and 1 set some kid up to be a binary genius (okay probably not, but you don’t know).
And sometimes God lets me taste the wine, like in Costa Rica. We were at School #7, in a very dangerous part of town where 80% of the homes had some sort of abuse happening and where drug dealers sat with their giant dogs on the corner across from the school. These kids were familiar with drug abuse, physical abuse and/or sexual abuse. We had just finished painting a hopscotch on the floor. It was perfect (literally, we drew the lines and everything). And I got to see this beautiful little girl bound by leg braces be the first one to “jump” on the painted boxes and laugh hysterically. It was one of the best moments on the race. That very well could possibly be the only “new” thing she had ever had. It was an amazing scene, and totally worth it.
A lot of this year has felt like nothing but bringing water… And I don’t know who will “taste the wine” and maybe I will never know. But it showed me that the small things matter and its for His story, not mine.
If all I do is bring water today, so be it.
