One step at a time

There are a number of Bible stories that almost everyone is familiar with, no matter which church you grew up in. One of the well known stories of the New Testament is where Jesus turned water into wine at a wedding. I had read this story so many times before that it would have been very easy to just skim over the words without really picking up on anything, but I had previously decided that I was going to read the book of John and find at least one piece of truth in each chapter that I could apply to my daily life. So, I prayed for God to reveal something new to me, and He did.

The truth that stood out to me while reading the story of Jesus turning water into wine is the fact that Jesus did not tell them what would happen; He simply gave them steps to follow. 

John 2:7-8: 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.”

I know if I needed wine (or tea, or any other drink) and all Jesus told me to do was fill a bunch of jars with water, I would have the attitude of wondering why on earth I’m wasting time with water when I needed to go out and get the drink that I need. That, however, is the training of society: that we must go through the system of buying what we need. As followers of Christ, we should trust Jesus by doing what He says…one step at a time. Here are some areas where I struggle with following one step at a time:

-          When I have a project at work, I like to see an outline so I know exactly what direction I will be going in.

-          When I am driving somewhere new, I like to have the directions from beginning to end right by me. I don’t like driving somewhere with a person telling me turn by turn where to go.

-          When I am going to a meeting, I like to know what is going to be the general purpose and  outline of the meeting.

-          When signing up for something new (for example, registering for college courses) I want to know the process that I will be going through.

Although the fact that we must follow Jesus one step at a time is not new to me, seeing it in scripture reinforces the truth and makes it easier to reference back to whenever I am in a situation where I cannot see the full path ahead of me. I am in one of those situations now, and I have been for over a year, but I trust that God is my Provider and I continue to follow His lead every day. We are all where we are right now because there is a greater purpose for us to fulfill. Some of us may see what we are influencing around us; others may never see it while we are on this earth; but we should all know that there is something bigger happening around us.