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.

Go deeper

I had a amazing experience yesterday, the kind that only God could bring me into. Before I went to church in the evening to volunteer at Next Level (the area in our church where people who have accepted Christ come to be prayed over and receive a Bible), I spent a couple hours reading through devotionals and my Bible, and the last 10 minutes I spent on my knees in silence, ready to hear from God. The phrase “young girl” just kept going through my head, but I wasn’t sure if it was just my own mind thinking up those words. However, I kept my heart open and prayed for God to speak through me. We ended up having a few people come to our table last night, and sure enough…the very last was a young girl. I took the initiative to talk to her and I led everyone in prayer over her, just letting the Holy Spirit speak through me. It was an incredible moment to finally step out of myself and fully give the Holy Spirit control.

I feel like the time I spent in God’s word yesterday afternoon opened up my heart to be able to hear from God. I will be honest here...I go almost all week just barely reading over a devotional before I go on to the other things in my day. I have email devotionals that come to my inbox all day, and I read them when I receive them and pray whatever prayer is included, but I seldom spend much time contemplating over anything or letting the message truly sink into my heart. The Holy Spirit is convicting me that I really need to make this more of a priority, but I know that I cannot do it without God’s help. That being said, here is my challenge:

• I will start by making it a habit on Saturday or Sunday afternoon to spend at least one hour reading my Bible and going through my devotionals in a more concentrated setting than just briefly reading over everything.
• The next step is to spend at least one hour 3 days a week…probably Tuesday, Thursday, and then one of the weekend days.
• Final step is to spend at least 30 minutes reading the Bible and going through devotionals on a daily basis.

I desire to be closer to God, and to spend more time in His Word learning from what He has to say, instead of what the world says.