Miracle through Obedience

In the Scripture, John 2:1-10, we learn that Jesus, his mother and his disciples were invited at a wedding at Cana in Galilee. As we all know, weddings are still one of joyous celebrations in every part of the world. As the wedding celebration was going on, Jesus’ mother came to him and said,

‘They have no more wine.’ –John 2:3

Recognizing and turning to Jesus

Running out of wine at a wedding during their time was a very serious issue. This would bring embarrassment and shame to the bridegroom. In life, things may seem to be moving on smoothly, and then suddenly everything comes to a stop. A crisis happens, tragedy hits you and suddenly you are in a situation that you never saw it coming. And most of the time you have no idea how to deal with it. The question is: What do you do? Who do you turn to?

As what Mary mother of Jesus did, we all need to do the same whenever we are faced with a big or small problem; we need to recognize the presence of Jesus and turn to Him. Very often, people fall into despair. No matter the kind of problem that you are facing, I’d like to encourage you that Jesus is in the midst of it all and you can always turn to him and let him lead you through. You are not alone, Jesus is right there with you in your story. Perhaps you are wondering, if you will ever overcome such an obstacle in your life. The answer is in Genesis 18:14, “Is anything too hard for the LORD?”

Submitting to Jesus

After Mary mother of Jesus had informed Jesus of the problem at hand, she turned to the servants and said, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ – John 2:5

Mary understood the importance of submitting or yielding to a higher power and authority. When we turn to Jesus, for guidance, for assistance or anything we must also be willing to yield to him so that he may work out his will through us. This requires letting go of our ego, putting away titles or social status that we often prevents us from yielding to God. This is saying, “Lord, Jesus I surrender it all, whatever you say I will do it.”

Obedience

And Jesus said to the servants, “fill the jars with water;” And they filled them to the brim. – John 2:7

First thing to note, instructions given by God are simple and straight to the point. Very often, when we receive instructions from God we tend to put more questions marks where there isn’t any. Questions like: And then what, Lord? Will it work? Are you sure that’s a good idea? Notice there is a semi-colon at the end of the first instruction meaning there’s more. As Jesus has reveals to you step number one, you need to first execute step number one in order for Him to reveal to you step number two.

The second step will always come after obedience of the first step. The servants received the next step, after obeying the first step. After the servants had filled the jars to the brim, that’s when they received their next step. That’s the thing with God; He won’t reveal the next step to you until you have completed the first step.

So, there were six stone water jars nearby, each holding about eighty to a hundred and twenty liters. Filling the six water jars was not a task that required a single trip to fill them. They had to make several trips back-and-forth from water source to where the jars were located until they were filled to the brim. Whatever thing God may have asked you to do, do it to completion even if it requires you to do the same thing over and over again, just do it. Don’t quit along the way, don’t do it with a grumbling heart and even if you don’t see any positive change yet, keep doing it to completion until God reveals to you the next step.

Trust

Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”They did so, -John 2:8

Am trying to imagine what was going on in the mind of the servant as he was taking the water to the master of banquet. Clearly it didn’t make any sense to serve the master of banquet with water instead of wine. Now this is the point where doubt starts to creep in when we begin to lean on our own understanding. The question is: ‘Do you trust Jesus? Do you trust Jesus even if whatever he is asking doest really makes sense? Would you lean on him even if people mock you, laugh at you or reject you simply because you are obeying him?’

Proverbs 3:5, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding”

Miracle

And the master of banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine.- John 2:9

At what point did the miracle happen? Did the miracle happen when the servants were filling the jars with water, or when they drew some out or when they presented it to the master of banquet? I believe the miracle happened at the first step; when they chose to obey Jesus.

When we choose to obey God in the initial stage that’s when miracle starts to happen. We may not see the miracle yet during the first step but the miracle is already set in motion because we’ve chosen to obey. Just as the walls of Jericho fell down after the Israelites walked around it seven times, it was the first step they took in obedience to God to walk around the walls that brought it down. Similarly, Naaman was healed of his leprosy by taking the first step to obey the word of God through Prophet Elisha and went to river Jordan and washed himself seven times.

It is my prayer for those who believe for a miracle that you would take the first step to trust and obey God’s word. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to witness God’s miracle in your life through disobedience or because you chose to lean on your own understanding. Take the first step of obedience and God will guide you through to your miracle.