'Before Jesus turned the water into wine, someone had to fill the jars with water. The miraculous often begins with the mundane'.
This came to me as a WhatsApp forward, but to me it was like a wake up call.
Like most of us, I dream of being used by God to accomplish great things. My dreams differ from my daily reality of running a home. My days are often mundane and the routine is regular and played out on repeat with minor variations or interruptions. There is nothing newsworthy or spectacular in the schedule.
But I often wonder if I would be sensitive to the still small voice reminding me to call an elderly aunt? Or cook a meal for a neighbour? Or have my children’s friends over? Or pray with a hurting friend? Or just show up at a cousin’s place? Or give up my place in the queue to a mom with a toddler? I debate within my heart if I would be sensitive to His gentle nudging to be kind to the rude cashier or the exhausted cab driver? Or listen as someone pours their heart out? Would I go the extra mile for the family member who annoys me? Or say hello to the new folks in the neighbourhood? My mind voice asks me if I would take advice from someone younger or inexperienced? Would I be humble enough to receive help from someone I barely know?
But that is how faith often unfolds… doing the ordinary, being faithful in the little.
It is then that change begins. Weakness into strength. Foolishness into wisdom. Chaos into order. Ashes into beauty. Weeping into rejoicing. Darkness into light. Death into life.
The servants at the wedding feast at Cana were just doing their job. Keeping calm in the chaos of the festivity. Serving guests. Refilling the wine. Helping out. Obeying orders. They would have probably done these routine tasks many times before.
But they faced a problem when the wine ran out. They must have been confused when Mary asked them to do what Jesus told them. And even more confused when Jesus asked them to fill massive stone jars with water. Yet they did. When they obeyed an obscure request from a wedding guest, a miracle unfolded right before their eyes.
The One who formed the seas certainly did not need help in filling the jars. Yet He asked ordinary people going about their everyday tasks to do the mundane.
Was Simon Peter expecting a miracle after a night of disappointment and discouragement? His expertise and experience did not do him much good that night. His nets came up empty haul after haul - he caught nothing. Though he may have been skeptical when Jesus asked him to lay down his nets, he did just that. But he caught something more than netloads of fish that night. I believe he caught hold of a hungry hope and stoic faith to do His Master’s bidding.
Very often, we are waiting for the big miracle, but He is waiting for us to take the little step of obedience. Before the transformation to the extraordinary, there’s an invitation to do the ordinary for it is in those mundane moments that our hearts are shaped, our character is formed, and our faith is strengthened.
Very often, while trudging through troubled times, we are so caught up in the despair of the moment or the importance of the imminent that we reason with God and miss out on the simple, seemingly ordinary things we are called to do.
What if Joshua decided that he’d had enough of walking around the walls of Jericho and stopped just short of the seventh round? What if David did not carry food to his brothers? What if Rebecca did not offer water to Abraham’s servant and his entourage? What if Ananias did not go to pray over Saul the persecutor of the Jews? What if Priscilla did not open her home? As we look through the Bible and at our own lives, we will realise that God’s blessings and breakthrough come when we are willing to do what He calls us to do, insignificant and trivial as it may seem.
Are there jars we need to fill? Are there nets we need to let down? Is there something that the Lord is whispering to our hearts that seems too commonplace and ordinary to come from the King? Let us hasten to do the ordinary and may we believe for the extraordinary to unfold into our lives.
Photo by Sandra Grünewald on Unsplash
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Awesome 👍