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The master of the ceremony climbed on stage and ushered the well-wishers ( who had come to grace the wedding ceremony of their friends or relations) into the euphoria of the moment.
Trust every good MCs to spice up every moment of wedding ceremonies with their garrulousness, so did this particular MC.
The attendees were well attended to; foods and drinks were in circulation, coupled with the rib cracking jokes of the MC.

Everyone basked in the amusement of the moment until there was a hitch in the delivery of what facilitated the smooth running of the event.

What happened? The Wine got finished!

“What? “, the event planner might have exclaimed.
” How could it? The program would soon be wrapped up, and you’re telling me this? What would people say; that we are so poor that we can’t afford to keep the wine in circulation till the end of the ceremony? No, No, this would be shameful. Something must be done,” He might have said to the servant (s) who reported the issue to him.

One of the servers who knew Mary narrated their predicament to her. Mary in turn relayed the message to Jesus Christ,who was invited together with his disciples to grace the occasion. She knew what he could do.

” I was told the wine had finished? How can you help in this situation?” Mary supposedly asked Jesus, who had been in the ceremony since the inception of it.
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” What have I to do with you,Woman,” Jesus calmly replied, and continued,”…my time is not yet come.”

Mary knew better not to question the LORD because his words are final. She knew the LORD cannot be cajoled to act before his time, so she turned towards the servers and instructed them to obey Jesus’ directives whenever it was his set time.

” Fill up those empty pots with water,” Jesus commanded.
The servers, who had earlier been admonished by Mary, adhered without questioning the directive that doesn’t seem to make sense to them.

” We needed wine, and he’s giving us water, maybe he knows how to make wine a different way” they might have wondered. However, they obeyed fully by filling those water pots to the brim, and waited for the next instruction.

” Draw up and serve the governor of the ceremony,” Jesus instructed further. Without stopping to consider what they’re about to do, they obliged and served the drawn up water turned wine.

They were stunned by what just happened. How possible is this! This must be supernatural!, they mused further as they served the wine.

The loquacious MC, also called the governor of the ceremony, on sipping from the wine served him couldn’t conceal the goodness of the wine’s taste. He had drunk the previous one, and there wasn’t anything special about it.

He couldn’t help but conveyed his thoughts to the bridegroom, ” Everyone in his ceremony serves the sweetest of drinks first, but you reserved yours for later”

The bridegroom might have taken the credits because he was oblivious of the miracle that just happened in his marriage.

The story goes on….

Every event that occurred in the bible hosts some lessons to be excerpted; The marriage in Cana of Galilee is not an exemption.

Jesus and his disciples were invited to the marriage ceremony as regular guests to grace the occasion with their presence. They never imagined they would have to deal with the dilemma of “finished wine” during the ceremony.
They didn’t require Jesus’ attention until the wine finished.

Because the wine finished, it provided an opportunity for Jesus to perform his first miracle.

Dear Friends, look at your life,What has finished? What has been depleted? Is it Joy, Satisfaction, Finance, and the likes of good things that serve as oil that keeps the engine of life running smoothly?
You don’t have to fret or get bogged down in the mud because of what you’ve been sapped of, rather present your dilemma to God as an opportunity for him to work a miracle.

Most times, we don’t need God when things are fine, and we don’t have anything to worry about. We drop our oars of faith and stop rowing towards God.
It’s easy to skip prayers, bible study, evangelism and other activities God has ordained us to do as his children, when the skies are clear. It would have to take a little discomfort, in form of a ” finished wine” to redirect our gaze upwards to God.

It’s unappealing to see people climb mountains to seek God to intervene in their predicaments, only for them to remain in the valley when their prayers are answered.

Are we like them? Maybe.

The beautiful thing about the ceremony was that Jesus was invited. He was there when the wine finished. Not only was he there, he performed a miracle because the problem was relayed to him. He might have sat where he was and watched their agitations about the ” finished wine”, if he was not implored to do something about it.
Not only did they inform him about the situation, they were willing to wait for his time, and obey whatever he told them when it was his time.
They didn’t just obey, they did it fully by filling the water pots to the brim!

Access your life again, have you invited Jesus into Life? If you have, do you entreat him when your wine is finished, or do you try to help yourself do something about it?

If you have entreated him about your challenges, are you willing to wait for his time?

If you are willing to wait, how about obedience to his instructions when he decides it’s his time?

If you are obedient, what’s the nature of your obedience? Is it a full one?

These are several factors we must put in place if we desire a miracle of sweet wine in our lives, and until we appropriate them, it might be difficult for us to receive our miracles.

When you notice any situation like that of a “finished wine” in your life, take it as an opportunity for God to work for you.
Remember, man’s extremity is God’s opportunity.
No matter how far you’ve gone in search of new wine and couldn’t find any, don’t give up on God because He doesn’t have extremities but possibilities.

The country’s situation has caused a lot of wine bottles to be empty. However, as God’s children we can always have a refill of his sweet wine, so that we don’t have to go through the hassles and struggles caused by “finished wine.”

Inspired by the Holy Spirit.

The epic narrative of the Israelites and their journey out of Egypt to the promised land still holds great lessons for us.

Before God delivered his people, he had a place in mind he would bring them into. That was the reason God emphasized their destination in every promise of deliverance he gave them. He knows the promise wouldn’t make much sense to his people if he didn’t include the destination, not just the destination, he emphasized the beauty of the destined place to make it more appealing to them according to Exodus 3:8 (KJV)  And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey;…

The land flowing with milk and honey was all the Israelites needed to trust the promise( like most of us). They have had enough of the horrible maltreatment from the Egyptians, and all they needed was a land where they’ll dwell peacefully and feed satisfactorily. It never crossed their minds that they would go through a process that would make them fit for the desired land.

When God’s mighty hand brought them out from Egypt, the Israelites might have thought the promised land was just a few hours or days away, but what did they find? The hot chase. Their  oppressors will not let them off easily. 

The Israelites had barely begun the journey to the promised land, and here is the enemy, fiercely pursuing them. Confusion would have clouded the minds of those that thought the journey to the promised land would be rosy and cozy. They didn’t know that God had started training them. If they didn’t see their enemy perish, their faith in God might not be ignited.

Before their eyes, there came the pillar of clouds that led them during the day, and the pillar of fire that saw them through the night! That was a miracle there( God was teaching them to trust in the protection his presence affords), but a bigger one awaited them at the red sea. All these happened in the midst of the enemy pursuing them.

What happened at the red sea was so glorious and ecstatic .Not only were they the first breed of humans to walk on the sea bed, with the great waters standing like great walls as they walked through; God showed himself to them as their way maker.

What they didn’t know is that they had begun a journey that would build and  make them worthy to dwell in the promised land. 

God didn’t include the duration of their journey because they might give up on the promised destination, at the thought of the process they would have to go through. He knew they would dread the process because they were feeble minded. He knew they would choose to remain in bondage than embark on the process that would lead them to the place he had prepared for them; therefore he hid it, and revealed it in their experiences.

Throughout the Israelites journey through the wilderness, battles were fought and won, they were miraculously fed ,protected and defended by God.They never planned to encounter all these,but by divine Providence, they did.

God knows his children needs refining before they attain the promise, but his children didn’t think that way. They had thought it would be a smooth and brief ride to the promise.

No wonder God said, his ways are not our ways. His way is to lead his children in the way that would build, and make them worthy to have the promise. This has always countered men’s way because we  prefer skipping the process to have the promise. 

As contemporary christians, we can allude to the various processes we have been made to undergo by divine providence, on our way to our promise lands.

I know we wished for lines to fall in pleasant places for us sooner, I understand we want those things we have asked God to manifest immediately, but I want us to understand this:

Sometimes, God will not directly give us what we asked for, he will take us through the wilderness of searching, so that we would be developed and worthy to have what we have found, or obtained.

Sometimes, God will not directly give us what we asked for

Those delays might be God’s tool to work extra hard on you and bring out your best. In fact, for God’s children, there is God’s time, and we must not tag those times as a delay in our lives.

Let us allow God to work fully in us until we have been made fit to receive our requests.

As humans, there are things we don’t give children to handle, no matter how hard they request or cry for it. They would have attained a certain level of maturity before those things are handed over to them. That’s how it is  for us with God.

 God might have spotted diverse weaknesses in our lives that would make us mishandle those precious things we have asked from him, and he wants us to overcome those weaknesses so that we can retain the blessings, and not misuse them.

If you have asked God for financial prosperity, and it seems it would take forever for your answers to come, check your current predicament. God might be taking you through a process that would embed in you the wisdom to manage divine prosperity, when your answer comes.

Let us allow God to work fully in us until we have been made fit to receive our requests.

You might be awaiting God’s answers to your marriage petitions, and it seems there is a deadlock. Observe what God is trying to build in you, to make yourself a better second half.

As students, you might not understand what you have read the first time. You might have to revisit the material for a better understanding.

In our pilgrimage, it is evident that we are in a process that is preparing us for our destination with God:That was the reason we weren’t raptured at conversion. Our faith needs to be built on Christ our solid rock.

In all things, let us cherish the process God is taking us through. This is because all things work together for good to those, who love God.

Let’s stop chasing immediate results and allow God’s fire to refine us in every process he chooses for us. This is always the best way, because it is God’s way.