MORE LESSONS FROM THE WEDDING AT CANA

Part two of Lessons from the Wedding at Cana
Story from John 2:1-10

4 “How does that concern you and me?” Jesus asked. “My time has not yet come.”
5 But his mother told the servants, “do whatever he tells you.”

Verses 4-5

What Scripture tells us:
     It looks like Jesus is not going to do anything about the problem.

What we would do:
     When we don’t get our prayers answered right away or in the way we
     think they should be answered we loose our faith in God and His
     promises. We turn away from Him and think, and say, that prayer (our request for God to fix our
     problem) doesn’t work.

What Mary did:
     Mary told the servants to “Do whatever he tells you.” She prepared them to receive instructions from
     Jesus. She knew who Jesus was.

What God wants us to learn from this:
     Trust God for the timing and the way He will answer your prayers. Be prepared to receive instruction.


How do you react when it doesn’t seem that God is hearing your prayers? Do you continue believing and listening for His voice? There may be instructions coming before your answer arrives.

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LESSONS FROM THE WEDDING OF CANA

In reading from the book of John, God showed me lessons He wanted us to learn from the story of the wedding Jesus attended with His mother and His disciples. I will be dividing this up into several posts to keep it from becoming toooo long. I want you to get all of it.

Part one

1 The next day Jesus’ mother was a guest at a wedding celebration in the village of Cana in Galilee. 2 Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the celebration. 3 The wine supply ran out during the festivities, so Jesus’ mother spoke to him about the problem. “They have no more wine,” she told him.
4 “How does that concern you and me?” Jesus asked. “My time has not yet come.”
5 But his mother told the servants, “do whatever he tells you.”
6 Six stone waterpots were standing there; they were used for Jewish ceremonial purposes and held twenty to thirty gallons each. 7 Jesus told the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” When the jars had been filled to the brim,8 he said, “Dip some out and take it to the master of ceremonies.” So they followed his instructions.
9 When the master of ceremonies tasted the water that was now wine, not knowing where it had come from (though, of course, the servants knew), he called the bridegroom over. 10 “Usually a host serves the best wine first,” he said. “Then, when everyone is full and doesn’t care, he brings out the less expensive wines. But you have kept the best until now!” John 2:1-10 New Living Translation

Verses 1-3

What Scripture tells us:
     Mary saw a problem; they had run out of wine.

What we would do:
     Like all women we would want to fix it. Now if we were a typical woman we would have gone to
     our friends, our mother and then our rabbi to tell them all about the problem. When we got around to
     telling Jesus we would have given him a list of suggestions for the best way to fix the problem.

What Mary did:
     Mary went straight to the one she knew could, and would, do something, she went to Jesus. She knew
     who He was. She didn’t know how He would fix the problem and she didn’t give Him a list of
     suggestions, she left the solution up to Him because she knew He could handle it.

What God wants us to learn from this:
     He wants us to follow Mary’s example. He wants us to bring our problems to Him, directly to Him,
     do not pass Go, do not collect $200, just come straight to Him. Then He wants us to trust Him that He
     knows the best way to solve the problem.


How are you doing with the first part of this lesson? Do you take your problems directly to Jesus or is He your last resort? I hope that you know Him like Mary knew Him and trust Him like she trusted Him.

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Life Lesson from an Ordinary Woman

Author Kathy Eberly has published a book titled Extraordinary Life Lessons from Ordinary Christian Women. I have not read the book, but the idea of honoring those women who had impacted her life got me thinking about women in my life.


Fresh out of High School I began job searching. I needed something close to home, without a car I had to be able to walk there. The small town I lived in had a limited selection.

I applied at several places looking for office work to put my typing and bookkeeping classes to use but no one would hire me without experience. That always stumped me, how can you get experience without someone taking a chance on you. I finally resorted to applying to a small department store. They hired me, as a sales clerk. Happy for a job I threw myself into it totally.

A male manager and two women ran the business office of the store. Both of these women where older and one was having health issues so retirement looked good to her. Elvira Smith, went to the store manager and told him she wanted me to have the office position. She then talked with me. I hesitated because I had only been there three months; surely someone else working there longer would want the position. She assured me I was the one she wanted working with her. The manager did not have her confidence. He agreed to give me a trial period to see how I would do, not guaranteeing me the job. My mentor knew the quickest way for him to see I could do the job, and for me to prove to myself I could do it, was to take a vacation. After two weeks of training Miss Smith took off for a week, I ran the office on my own. Her excellent training helped me pass my trial by fire.

Because of her faith in me I went on to computer night school and left the store to take a position with opportunity and a much higher salary. Because they couldn’t find anyone right away to replace me I worked at the store on Saturdays so Miss Smith wouldn’t be working six days a week. They also gave me a big raise for a one day work week. Miss Smith shook her head and told the manager, “Maybe if you paid her well when she worked full time she would have stayed.” She always rooted for me.

Forty Five years ago I needed someone in my life who believed in me, especially since I didn’t believe in myself. I know my future success grew from one woman who said, “I know you can do it.” I have tried to follow the example she gave me by encouraging women wherever God has taken me.

Is there someone in your life you would like to thank for believing you had what it takes?