“Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” (Ps 100:4-5)
Did the season of Thanksgiving ever make you feel uncomfortable? Have you ever, for example, had trouble at Thanksgiving with the whole idea of giving thanks? I have, and generally, it is because I am so overwhelmed with problems that I can’t even think of a single blessing!
I am sure this is how a young bride and groom must have felt on the evening of their wedding party on that memorable day in Cana. The evening starts out with the happy couple feeling so overwhelmed with blessings that they can’t even start to list them! Until suddenly someone reaches over and whispers into the bridegroom’s ear: “The wine has run out!” The bridegroom’s face, just moments ago lit up with joy and laughter, suddenly grows pale with disbelief and despair! How could it be? The party was ruined! He would be the laughing stock of the whole town for this one! NO ONE ran out of wine at a wedding!!! His fists clench and unclench as he bites his lip in an effort to control the rush of angry words starting to bubble up into his mind: Just who was in charge of ordering the wine, anyway? He irately rises from the table and stomps over to see the head servant . . .Yes, the groom has definitely become so overwhelmed with the problem of the wine that he has completely forgotten the blessings of the day . . .
But isn’t there something else that the bridegroom has forgotten? Has he forgotten — or does he even know! — that the creator of wine is in his midst?
” Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine.” (John 2:6-9)
At the request of His dear mother, Jesus calmly tells the servants to fill the six water jugs with water. When the water is drawn from the jugs, it has turned into wine. And not just any wine, either, but the very best!
Isn’t it so often the case that the smallest problems will make us forget all of God’s abundant blessings? The next time you find yourself so bogged down by problems that it seems impossible to think of anything to be thankful for, remember the story of Jesus’ first miracle! Remember that the miracle worker is with you at all times, just waiting for you to ask for your miracle! Jesus is with you! You can trust Him to know what is best, and to work all things out for the good! Your problems, once you hand them over to Him, are solved! You can go back to rejoicing in the abundant blessings that our Lord bestows on us each and every minute of our lives!
Lord Jesus, help me today, to hand you my problems, ever trusting you to take care of them to the good of everything involved, so that I can truly partake in praise and thanksgiving!
“Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” (Ps 100:4-5)
In His love,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, Moderator, The Nugget, Scriptural Nuggets ( www.scripturalnuggets.org ), Answers2Prayer Ministries, www.Answers2Prayer.org