He Speaks

This week was rather miserable for me. The pity party was pretty lame - and I hope I have it out of my system.

The other night as I readied myself for bed, I wished for something comforting to read. I have a bookshelf where I keep inspiring books that I've already read or started to read. I have a tendency to have three books at a time on my nightstand - and eventually one of them gets read entirely. The others return to the shelf.

So I stood there, glancing at their spines just barely suggesting to God that He lead me to something that could still the ache in my heart. My hand reached for the title "Becoming Friends with God"
What an invitation!

As I made my way back to bed I noticed slips of paper marking random places in the book. I've been here before.
But it's not likely I remember what I read. I make a plan to start the book at the beginning, but let it fall open to a marked page first.

Oh that. A prayer I obviously wanted to remember:

Lord, help me to understand why You say no, even if it will be a difficult lesson for me to learn. Grant me the patience in waiting to understand. And God, I submit to You and will accept Your answer with gratitude and faith, even if I never understand why - because I trust You. Amen.

Isn't that beautiful? Isn't that exactly what I need to pray right now?!
Trust is the part I have trouble with. I do trust God. But I trust Him here (hand level with my eyes) and I want to trust Him here (hand reached far above my head)
But look at that. I asked God to show me something and He showed me that He wants me to trust Him.

So I've been reading a chapter or two each night and last night was something so beautiful I want to share it with you, my bloggy friend.

The writer brings us back to the Wedding of Cana. Reminding us that this wedding is not famous for the bride and the groom - we don't even know their names do we? This wedding is important because Jesus was invited. His presence there made a profound difference.

I'm going to interject here - the writer of the book is not Catholic but he reminded me of the Catholic observance that because of Jesus' presence at this wedding - Christian marriage was raised to the dignity of a Sacrament. (from Praying the Rosary Without Distractions, Copyright 1994, 2006 Dominican Fathers)

The Wedding of Cana has always been one of my favorite bible stories - even long before I knew this - or that it actually registered that it was the place of Jesus' first miracle.

Okay, going back the book now...

Mary the mother of Jesus, was among the first to discover that they had run out of wine. She immediately went to Jesus. Up to this point in Jesus' life there is no record of His ever performing a miracle. So it wasn't that she expected a miracle. Maybe she thought that He would just say something that would relieve the tension.

...

I doubt that she understood when He said, "My time has not yet come." I don't think she had a sense of the schedule that He was following from conception to crucifixion to resurrection and back to heaven again. She didn't understand all that. So when Jesus said what He said, she simply turned to the servants and said, "Well, just do whatever he says."

Mary was right. She got it. Her response teaches us a lot. Whenever problems arise, even if we've never seen Jesus do a miracle before, even when we don't understand Jesus' words and can't figure out how He will handle it - just take your problems to Him and do whatever He says.

Emphasis mine.
Again, there is my reminder to be more like Mary. If I ever want to be a mother, she's the example I should follow.

Ha. I am so impatient, waiting for God's will - I keep asking God for an outline. A syllabus would be nice. I want to be prepared, I want to know when I can expect what I expect!

Mary? Trusted God. With very little information. No outline. Just - "Let it be done unto me as you have said."

Wow. I've got a long way to go.

Also, further into the study of this miracle the writer also notes:

When Jesus does something, He does it very well. It wasn't just wine, it was the best of wine.

...

When Jesus does something special, He does it big. One hundred eighty gallons. That would have provided for a very large and a very long party!

I really like that. He does it big! Whatever I am waiting for - will be worth it. Now back to that trust issue...


Source: Leith Anderson - Becoming Friends with God - A Devotional Invitation to Intimacy with God
I should also note that in the above quotations from the book, the writer does not capitalize he & him as references to Christ. I have taken the liberty of capitalizing the references to Christ as I feel it is proper.