Have you ever wondered if what you are doing "for God" is enough?
When we offer our services to God, give our whole lives to Him, we tend
to envision what that is going to look like. We are told to dream big,
reach high, only settle for extraordinary things that you will do in the
name of Christ.
Jesus performed his first miracle at a wedding in
Cana in Galilee. This miracle was so important and impressive that "he
revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him." (John
2:11b). Wow, I want to be part of something like that. I want to join
Jesus in a work that is so amazing that people actually witness it and
put their faith in him. Sign me up! What do I have to do?
Just before Jesus' first miracle his mother gave the
best advice that I think is given the the entire Bible. She turned to
servants at that wedding and simply said, "Do whatever he tells you." (v
5)
That advice holds true for us today as well. And we reply, "Great!
I'm in. What do you want me to do? Speak in front of thousands of
people? Go to an unreached people? Stand on the street and convert
hundreds? Start an organization or church that will explode into a
mega-something? Set my family or neighbors straight?"
These servants looked at Jesus ready for an order and
he said, "Fill the jars with water". (v7) I wonder if they thought or
if I would have thought, "Wait, what? That's it? That's what we do
every day! That's not extraordinary! That's not special! That will
never change the world!!"
But this time, as they did what they did every single day, Jesus got involved. They obeyed and HE did the extraordinary.
I
was born singing. I knew Christ at an early age and gave my life to
him and sincerely wanted him to use me. My prayer was, "My life is
yours, Lord. I want you to use me." I didn't realize until years later
that what I really meant was, "I want to sing for you. Send me
wherever you want to and I'll sing."
Years later I was at home around
the clock with a sick, handicapped, needy baby who didn't sleep. I sat
night after sleepless night wondering if I would ever do anything
significant for God again?
Then a thought was whispered to my heart, What
if THIS is serving God... this seemingly insignificant thing I do right
here in my own home with no one but one little boy watching. What if
this is what pleases God? I do the ordinary and HE does the
extraordinary.
There are times that we look at what God places before us and think, You may have asked too much. This is too big. There are other times that we serve in the ordinary moments of life and think, Surely I was born for bigger than this.
Then there are the times where we feel that the task is exactly right.
What God asks of us is not extraordinary, but obedience and joy as we
trust Him to work the miracles as we simply obey.
"Do whatever he tells you." no more, no less
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