The Best Wine — It Takes a Little Time!

I absolutely love those in-your-face, what-did-I-just-read kinda moments I have ever so often when I read the Bible — the moments that confuse and baffle me. I love them because they usually precede a moment of revelation, when God just switches on that bulb and I see something I’ve never seen before, the way I’ve never seen it before. Do you know what I’m talking about? Anyway, I’ll explain.

I read about the Wedding at Cana today in John 2 and I noticed something that made me go, “Erm, what now?!” I’ve read this story so many times since Sunday School but somehow missed an important piece.

Allow me to paraphrase this scenario for you:

Jesus, His mother and His disciples are invited to this wedding in Cana. Wine was flowing freely and everyone was having a blast until celebrations come to an abrupt stop because the unimaginable has happened – there is no more wine. What a party pooper! Everyone is bummed out and Mary sees a situation that she thinks Jesus can hep with.

She informs Jesus that the wine is over and (this I’m not making up) His exact response is, “What does your concern have to do with me? My hour has not yet come!”

Jesus does two things here — one, He basically dismisses the problem as something that doesn’t concern Him; and two, He says “His hour” has not yet come. I found that extremely odd. Don’t you?

It doesn’t end there. Mary then dismisses Jesus’ dismissal of her request and doesn’t basically take that as a “No!”. She is unperturbed and just informs the disciples to “do as He says”. This, also, I found extremely odd.

Of course, then comes the only part of this story we all actually talk about the most. Almost immediately after, Jesus goes and does exactly that which He literally just said didn’t concern him — He performs His first miracle on earth by turning water into wine. Large jars of water are turned into the best tasting wine (better than the wine that was served earlier which was actually fermented, God only knows how long, to get it to taste good). This was a miracle. It was instant, it was unexpected and it was water that now suddenly became the best tasting wine anyone there had ever had in their lives. This part I found oddest of all, considering what Jesus just said.

I was confused after reading this. Why did Jesus say that the issue didn’t concern Him? Why did He say His hour hadn’t come? Why did He perform the miracle after what He said? 

That’s when this bulb went off in my head — BAM! Revelation! I know different Bible scholars might have much deeper explanations to what this passage actually means but the best part about revelation is that it is God’s Word revealed to us in our context and to speak to our unique situation.

So here it is… my ‘aha’ moment…

When Mary approached Jesus with the problem, it was certainly the evening of the miracle but just not the exact moment. Jesus was not saying the problem didn’t concern Him at all, it just wasn’t the exact moment for His glory to be revealed. He knew the exact time that He was going to do it — a moment sooner would have been “too soon”, a moment later would’ve been “too late”. 

He was waiting for the “right time”.

God’s timing — It’s harder to fathom than quantum physics and trigonometry. Especially when we are waiting for a miracle and God seems like He’s not concerned one bit. Especially when the good times have stopped rolling because suddenly there’s a vacuum that needs to be filled and the wait seems excruciating. Especially when a crucial life experience is affected because something important is missing.

It’s not that God isn’t present, because He is.

It’s not that He isn’t going to do anything, because He is.

It’s not that the thing we’ve been waiting for isn’t going to come, because it is.

Here’s the hope I had this morning, and I’ve resurfaced on this blog to write about it because I know someone reading this needs to hear it too: That miracle we’ve been waiting for, is going to happen any minute now! God is in the vicinity; He isn’t far away. He’s going to make it happen. It is the evening of the miracle; maybe not the hour, not the exact minute — but it is the evening of your breakthrough. And mine.  

Like Mary, let’s not get discouraged, but prepare ourselves for God to show up. She was nonchalant and unnerved by God’s timing. She knew, at the core of her being, that He was going to make a way and come through that night.

I admit, waiting sucks. It is frustrating and it makes me want to pull out my hair — the whole length of it. But, it’s the evening of that glorious and miraculous day ; and I don’t want to feel like the party is over.

It’s only getting started because here’s the kicker – the best wine, it takes a little time. 😉