(morning reflections on the Wedding of Cana in John 2:1-11)
Jesus' inaugural public miracle wasn't restoring sight to a blind man, or casting demons out, or healing a cripple's legs, or raising the dead to life. No, for His first miracle, Jesus was at a social gathering where He met a need that if left unmet, would have caused great distress and even great embarrassment for those in charge.
I love this. Because this communicates to me that Jesus wants to be involved in my behind-the-scenes stuff that might seem insignificant to another, though not to me in those real moments of personal concern, depletion, and/or need.
More frequently than the major crises of life, I need Jesus just as much in the smaller, seemingly insignificant matters of the journey. But, in order for Jesus to be transparently involved in a way that I (and even those in my midst) will be impacted, I must first invite Him into my affairs. I must have a deliberate mindset of Jesus, you're welcome here. Right now in this small hour—in this conversation with my child, on this drive to work, in this interaction with my co-worker, in this money management, with this household chore, in the midst of this work task, in this leisure activity, in this pressing decision—I invite You in as an honored guest to this up-close moment of my personal life.
Then, like Mary's words clearly instruct, I must have listening ears and a submissive servant's heart toward whatever the Spirit of Jesus instructs me to do in these moments. I must have a "do whatever He tells you to do" mindset, a "do whatever He tells you to do" mission.
Certainly, this is when I witness the seemingly small—though not really small at all—miracles. It's when the water turns into wine, when the ordinary becomes the extraordinary in my everyday, momentary encounters and occurrences, which evidence the greatest miracle of all: that Jesus' Spirit continually dwells within me because He died to save me. From sin. And myself.
Over time, as I adopt this mindset, this progressively acknowledges my dependence on Him and deepens my trust in Him, and it reveals His glory to me and through me. Each of these—dependence and trust and God's glory—are outcomes the Spirit of Jesus is always after in a disciple's life. Because daily dependence and daily trust is foundational to a disciple's life of developing faith. And the desire for the display of God's glory is foundational to a disciple's life of developing maturity.
One final thought: The containers employed in the miracle were not special occasion, celebratory jars. They weren't embellished pots used just every now and then. No, they were ordinary clay water jugs used in daily Jewish life, which, to me, is so metaphorical for one of the lessons this miracle conveys: that Jesus wants to consume our seemingly ordinary occurrences—our this and thats of everyday life—with Himself. He wants us to recognize our genuine depletion in these small life-moments, and then look to Him to provide what we cannot bring to such moments, within ourselves, on our own.
Yes, even in the everyday, Jesus wants to produce the miraculous, which only His active presence and His influential way of thinking and being can bring about.
That is. . . if we'll invite and involve Him.
A concluding personal confession: On the day that I originally finished writing this blog, I had a number of tasks to accomplish. Halfway through the early part of the afternoon, I was already depleted in patience and energy and overall joy—a wrong, fleshly mindset had already taken hold—when the Holy Spirit clearly reminded me that I was not practicing what I had just been writing. I was not inviting Jesus into my everyday, small moments, and it had definitely reflected in my private thoughts, my attitude toward that day, and my interactions with those around me. So, the Lord's Spirit whispered something like this in my ear:
Now, why don't you ask Me to be a part of your remaining moments of this day. Actually "do" what you've challenged others to do. See if My presence will authentically make a difference. See if My participation will generate little miracles within the realm of your personal space.
Indeed, when I began purposely listening for and then cooperating with His Spirit, it made all the difference in the remainder of that day.
I'm so grateful for the Lord's long-suffering with me. So very grateful, though so undeserving. But because I am God's dearly loved child—solely because of Jesus' sacrifice on Calvary—I am the recipient of my Heavenly Father's patience, care, and inexhaustible, favorable love.
And because I hold this position, when I deliberately invite and involve His indwelling Spirit into my small and big matters and everything-in-between matters, and then do what He says, He has a way of turning things around.
That's just who He is.
