Just the Facts, Ma'am
“And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him. ”
I imagine every bride throughout the ages has had pre-wedding anxiety over the many things that could go wrong. What if the ring bearer throws up all over the wedding rings? What if my veil gets too close to the candles and bursts into flames? What if my hair won't curl or my face breaks out? What if the groom changes his mind? Oh, the wedding what ifs!
When I read this account in John, I'm torn between two hopes. On the one hand, I hope the happy couple never became aware of the lack of wine. Who needs such drama on their wedding day, right? Mary knew. The servants knew. But we're left to wonder if the bridal party was aware of the predicament. In many ways, I hope not. Why ruin their happy day?
But, on the other hand, what better story to tell to their kids and grandkids than that of the water turned to wine during their special day? Would it be worth the drama if everything turned out better than okay in the end? I don't know. But I don't want to focus on the bride and groom today anyway (sorry Cana couple). I want to take a quick look at Mary, the mother of Jesus.
Look at the simplicity of Mary's statement. "They have no wine." I often get frustrated with Jason because he insists on giving me nothing more than "man details." He'll take a phone message for me and say, "Your mom called." That's it. That's all he'll say until I pepper him with more questions. "What did she want? Does she need me to call her back? When did she call?" Of course, each of these questions is met with more "man details."
What did she want? "She had a question for you."
What was the question? "Don't know."
Does she need me to call her back? "I'm not sure."
When did she call? "Earlier."
Seriously? I've gotten clearer answers from a Magic 8 Ball!
But, here's the thing, Jason gets equally frustrated with me because of my "woman details." When he asks what we're having for dinner, he wants me to say, "tacos" or "meatloaf." He doesn't want to hear the story that goes along with my decision to have said dinner option like how I was planning to have something different, but the store was out of one of the key ingredients, and I didn't feel like driving to another store, so I decided to change the plan, but then would you believe the store was out of one of those ingredients too, so I had to switch to plan C. . . (How's that for a run-on sentence! My brain is a LONG series of run-on sentences.)
The Bible doesn't tell us enough about Mary to know if she preferred short, sweet answers or the more "flavorful" ones that paint a picture, but on this occasion, she opted for "man details." What's the problem? "They have no wine." Enough said! She didn't worry. She didn't try to solve the problem herself. She didn't even ask Jesus to do anything. ("Jesus, be a dear and conjure up some wine for this sweet couple.") No, she modeled for us the perfect formula for dealing with any problem in our lives. She told Jesus about the issue and then left it up to Him to solve it as He would.
Oh, how much simpler life would be if we would heed this lesson! How much less stress would we have if we weren't running around frantically trying to solve all of life's problems? What if we told Jesus the problem and then left it in His hands? No stress. No worry. No drama. Just the facts. Mary didn't wring her hands in anxiety over the embarrassment awaiting the couple when the thirsty crowd discovered the wine was gone. She didn't whine to Jesus how it wasn't fair for something so tragic to happen to such good people. (I guess you could say she didn't whine about the lack of wine.) She didn't fret, fuss, or fume. And she didn't take matters into her own hands. After all, she knew there was nothing she could do. The problem was beyond her power to solve. So, she did the only thing she could--she laid out the need before the Problem-Solver and then gave orders to the servants, "Just do what He says."
Do you have a problem today? Is there something in your life causing you stress and anxiety? If so, I urge you to tell it to Jesus. He can help. He can meet the need. Don't waste your time and energy trying to figure it out for yourself. Give it to God. He excels at doing the impossible. . . and He even understands "man details."
