The Dorette Abrahams story.

ARE YOU going through a seemingly impossible situation? During times like these, we feel overwhelmed and trapped, seeing no possible solution, but as we discussed last week, life’s challenges are to help us understand that impossible situations are opportunities for God to work miracles.

Do you need a miracle? Today, we are going to look at the first recorded miracle of Jesus. John called this first miracle a sign. Signs usually give us information or point us in a direction, and the miracles of Christ were always meant to reveal to us the glory of God pointing us to His sovereignty and glory.

In John 2, we read about the wedding at Cana. Jesus, His mother, and His disciples had all been invited to this wedding. On the third day of the wedding festivity, the wine ran out. Mary went to her son, Jesus, and told him what had happened and then told the servants to do whatever he told them to do. This set the stage for Jesus’ first miracle. Let’s see what information we can gather from this first sign and where it directs us. So: THE WINE RAN OUT (JOHN 2:1-3A)

In the Jewish custom, wine was a symbol of joy and rabbis’ had a saying, “Without wine there is no joy.”Sometimes, despite all the planning that we do, life can change in an instant, and what should have brought us joy, turns to despair. And it feels like it’s too late.

This miracle directs us to the fact that when the wine runs out, Jesus can turn things around. Mary, Jesus’ mother, came and told Him of the problem. Though this was an embarrassing situation and they might not have wanted to tell anybody, for the miracle to happen, they had to acknowledge that there was a problem. This leads to our second point: ADMIT THAT THERE IS A PROBLEM (JOHN 2: 1-3A) We cannot get help if we don’t acknowledge we need it. And we need to think about what help we need. Jesus asked the blind man at Jericho, “51 What

do you want me to do for you?” Mark 10:51 (NIV). We live in a time where we don’t want to ‘confess’ a bad thing because we fear it may happen. But the blind man had to acknowledge that he was blind to receive sight.

We, too, need to confess the things that we need Jesus to do for Him to do the miracle for us. The first step to seeing that joy restored is to admit the problem to Jesus. Once we admit that there is a problem, then we can do something about it by searching for someone to meet our need. This directs us to: BRING THE PROBLEM TO JESUS (JOHN 2:3B-4)

Jesus’ presence at this wedding opened the possibility to a miracle. Mary carried the problem to Jesus, indicating that she believed that He could resolve it. And He has enough power to resolve whatever problem we may be facing. He has an abundance of joy to keep us going even through the valley of the problem.

All these signs are ultimately leading us to: WALK IN OBEDIENCE AND DO WHAT JESUS TELLS US TO DO TO FIX THE PROBLEM (JOHN 2:5-10)

Inviting Jesus to the party made it possible for the supply of joy to be renewed and refreshed. But Jesus’ presence alone did not make the miracle happen … it did not bring the joy. While Jesus was here on Earth, many persons had the opportunity to be in His presence, yet they still experienced anger, rebellion, and hatred. To receive our joy, and miracle, we must listen for what Jesus tells us, and then we must obediently do it. Obedience made the possibility of joy a reality.

The moment Mary said to the servants,

“Do whatever he tells you,” John 2:5 (NIV), Jesus ceased to be a guest. He became the one in control, creating an opportunity for a miracle to happen. We may be perfectly willing to have Jesus as a guest in our lives, but sometimes we are not willing to turn over complete control and “do whatever He tells us”, and so we never receive our miracle.

When the servants heard Jesus speak, they responded in obedience, and Jesus’ transforming power turned water, ordinarily used for handwashing, into the “best wine”. It is never too late for Jesus to speak to us, but we must obey and allow His power to give us abundant joy.

‘We may be perfectly willing to have Jesus as a guest in our lives, but sometimes we are not willing to turn over complete control and do whatever He tells us, and so we never receive our miracle.’