We Get Help and God Gets Glory

On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you” (John 2:1-5).

Three days after His baptism Jesus, His mother, and His disciples were invited to a wedding. In his Spirit-inspired record of this event the apostle John remembers that Jesus loved to participate in the important events of the lives of families, friends, and neighbors. He was present at weddings, funerals, and other times of celebration or mourning. The presence of the Word of God at a wedding brought honor to the celebration of marriage. His mother made Jesus aware that, “They have no wine.” Jesus’ reply revealed that He knew the vast difference between the temporal and spiritual work that was ahead of Him.… “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” Indeed, it was not yet time for Him to reveal Himself as the Savior who would offer a cup of wine representing His blood shed for the forgiveness of sin… “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22:20). But it was the perfect time to reveal the truth that God dwells with man and He loves to meet needs like the immediate need for more wine at this wedding feast. Mary’s request reveals the truth that when we lift any need to Christ in prayer, we get help and God gets glory.

What is your first reaction whenever a pressing, unexpected need arises? What is your first impulse when a child is sick or hurt? Do you run to the medicine cabinet or phone the doctor? How do you handle unexpected financial needs? Do you look to the bank or credit card? What does your reaction in moments of crisis say about your belief that Jesus Christ lives in you…? “To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). We are sometimes tempted to believe that our temporal, physical needs are unimportant to God. Our adversary Satan would like us to believe that God is too busy with much bigger, more spiritual things to notice or care about our temporal needs. We’ve all experienced moments when, like the Psalmist Asaph, we have felt forgotten by the Lord… “Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” (Psalm 77:9). The real problem in moments like these is not that God has forgotten us. The Spirit of Truth reveals that God will never forget us… “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you” (Isaiah 49:15).

The problem is that we often forget about the presence of Christ in us. When we place our attention solely on the physical, temporal needs of life, we forget about the promise and potential of Christ living in us. Jesus promised that nothing in this world will ever overcome us because His overcoming power dwells in us… “Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). God allows temporal and physical trials and needs to come upon us to compel us to look to Him to meet our needs… “As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God! (Psalm 40:17). When we lift our needs to Christ in prayer, whether they are great or small, physical, emotional, or spiritual, He promises to hear and answer us and reveal His presence to us as well as to others… “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7). When our first response to any need is turning to Christ in faithful prayer, we make His presence known and He gets glory… “To this end we always pray for you, that our God may… fulfill every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12).

As we grow up into Christ we learn that our needs, whether big or small, are really opportunities to show the world that Christ lives in us because when we pray…

We Get Help and God Gets Glory.