Making Water Into Wine from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo.

There is an interesting story in John chapter 2 at the beginning of Jesus' public ministry. Jesus, His Mother, and His new disciples were invited to attend a wedding in Cana of Galilee. Cana was a small town about 8 miles northeast of their hometown of Nazareth.

In Hebrew culture, the wedding celebration was considered the grandest event in a person's life, especially among the poor. The groom and bride were treated like the king and queen. They were dressed in special bridal robes and even wore crowns for the event.

The wedding would usually take place in the late evening following a feast. Then the bride and groom were led home in a torchlight parade with a canopy held over their heads. They took the longest route possible so everyone could wish them well on the way. Instead of going away on a honeymoon, the newlyweds had an open house for a week. People came to visit them and brought them food and gifts. The wedding was a week-long event with new people visiting each day.

During this time, Israel had been conquered and occupied by the Roman empire. The people living there were poor, broken, and overtaxed. A wedding celebration like this was considered the supreme occasion. And many would go through the rest of their life without ever having another celebration like it.

(John 2:1–5 NKJV)  On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”

(John 2:6–10 NKJV)  Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it. When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”

During a Jewish wedding feast, wine is essential. Not so people could get drunk, but because it was a symbol of joy, exhilaration, and celebration. There could even be a lawsuit if the wine was not provided. It was the bridegroom's responsibility to provide refreshments for all the guests. They would need a considerable amount of food and wine for the week-long event.

Perhaps because of a lack of resources, or for some other reason, they didn't have enough wine at this particular wedding. So their childhood dreams of a perfect wedding celebration were about to become a nightmare instead. Jesus changed the wash water into excellent wine, between 120 to 180 gallons of it. That was an extravagant gift for the newlyweds, far above and beyond their needs.

Yet, something we overlook in this story how the miracle took place. The unnamed servants didn't actually perform the miracle, yet it wouldn't have happened without them. Jesus told them to do something: fill the pots with water, draw some out and take it to the master of the feast. In essence, they became His hands and feet.

The servants obeyed Jesus and risked handing the master a cup of wash water to taste. But sometime between them filling the water pots and drawing it out, the water was transformed into an excellent wine.

That is what working for the Lord looks like. We do what we are told, and the miracles begin to take place. We don't have to understand what is going on. In fact, we may not. I am sure the servants there didn't understand how the wash water suddenly turned into wine, but they didn't have to. They only needed to be obedient to what Jesus said, and the rest fell into place.

After a season of fasting, the Lord impressed us on us to start Refreshing Hope Online Church. My wife Sylvia and I sat down and calculated what it would take to get started using an Excel spreadsheet. We decided that if we repurposed some equipment we already had, we could get it online with $2,500. That was a huge amount for us as we were the only tithers at Refreshing Hope at the time.

We prayed about it and felt the Lord wanted us to go ahead with it. So I pulled an old Dell server we had out of the closet, put it on our kitchen table, and began formatting it. Within thirty minutes, someone came to our website and donated $2,500. It was the exact amount we needed to get started, and we had not told a single soul about our plan. On top of that, they told us later that the Lord abundantly blessed them for the next year.

The water became wine when the servants did what Jesus told them, for His provision comes with the vision He gives you.

You can pray this with me if you like:

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please help me get in tune with what You are doing on the Earth today. Show me what I should be focusing on and give me the grace to be obedient. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!