Monday, October 4, 2004
A boy from the south side of Chicago meets a girl from the Ozarks of Arkansas and they live happily ever after. That's my life story. As my honey and I approached our wedding day, a week after our college graduation, we had a lot of love. We didn't have much money to match, so we prayed for our own little wedding miracle. We were also heading into full-time Christian ministry, and there was not going to be much income from that. So, we prayed that God would lead people in buying gifts for our wedding, so we'd have what we needed to set up housekeeping. We didn't need a lot. We couldn't even afford the basics, though. We prayed that there wouldn't be much duplication in the gifts. Well, you know what? There was hardly any. It was amazing! We received one of each of the things we needed, except we got four whistling teakettles. Don't ask me to explain that. Maybe you could do a Gospel quartet with them.
As we opened the gifts, it was clear that God had answered our prayer, and it looked as if He had shopped for our wedding gifts Himself. We got all the basics. We didn't know how we would meet our start-up needs, but one wedding guest made all the difference.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Marriage Miracles."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from John 2, beginning at verse 1. "On the third day, a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee, and Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, 'They have no more wine.'" Verse 6. "Nearby stood six stone water jars, each holding from 20 to 30 gallons. Jesus said to the servants, 'Fill the jars with water.' So they filled them to the brim, and then he told them, 'Now, draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.'" They probably thought, "I don't think he's interested in water." Well, "They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine." Verse 11 says, "This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee, and revealed His glory." Notice what brought Jesus to Cana that day. It was a marriage. Notice where He did His first miracle. At a wedding. We saw our personal miracle at our wedding, and we've seen a lot since.
Maybe your marriage could use a miracle right now - Cana revisited. That day there was a change that no man or woman could make. Who could change water into wine, but Jesus did. There was a need that no man or woman could ever meet, but Jesus did. Maybe right now some change is urgently needed in your home. There's a need that must be met if your relationship is going to be what it needs to be. Maybe it's time for Cana revisited - a marriage miracle. Right now there's strain, and distance, resentment and frustration. Maybe there are thoughts of bitterness and even giving up.
Have you been to your knees together yet? Have you prayed - not, "Lord, bless the missionaries and bless the world," but prayed pouring out your mess, your pain, your dark feelings to the Lord, and crying out together for Jesus' healing in your marriage? The less you feel like doing it, the more you need to. And if your partner absolutely will not, don't let that stop you. This says Jesus had been invited to this wedding - to this marriage. Why don't you invite Him into your marriage? Close the door to leaving. Close the door to quitting. Ask God to show you the hope factors that you can build on. You've looked at the hopeless factors enough. Can you pray this: "Lord, we can't make it work. And I don't know how you would, but we beg you to do what we cannot do in this marriage."
Two thousand years ago, in the midst of a marriage, Jesus met an impossible need with His supernatural intervention. Today, the scene is set again, with you and the one you promised your life to. The couple - the need - the miracle.