Lessons from The Miracle at Cana: Perceiving God’s Blessings

Another thing John 2:1-12 shows us is that we often miss the full extent of God’s blessings. Read it prayerfully and see what the Holy Spirit shows you. Some points on that topic are set out below. (This version is from the New Jerusalem Bible. Other translations can be found here.)

On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee. The mother of Jesus was there,²and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited.³And they ran out of wine, since the wine provided for the feast had all been used, and the mother of Jesus said to him, 'They have no wine.'⁴Jesus said, 'Woman, what do you want from me? My hour has not come yet.'⁵His mother said to the servants, 'Do whatever he tells you.'⁶There were six stone water jars standing there, meant for the ablutions that are customary among the Jews: each could hold twenty or thirty gallons.⁷Jesus said to the servants, 'Fill the jars with water,' and they filled them to the brim.⁸Then he said to them, 'Draw some out now and take it to the president of the feast.'⁹They did this; the president tasted the water, and it had turned into wine. Having no idea where it came from -- though the servants who had drawn the water knew -- the president of the feast called the bridegroom¹⁰and said, 'Everyone serves good wine first and the worse wine when the guests are well wined; but you have kept the best wine till now.'

¹¹This was the first of Jesus' signs: it was at Cana in Galilee. He revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.¹²After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, but they stayed there only a few days. 

1.    We often fail to appreciate God’s actions when they occur. Jesus worked a great miracle here, both physically and spiritually. But hardly anyone present knew about it; verses 9-10 indicate that the host did not, and there is no indication that the guests did either.  

2.    That happens on a regular basis. God takes some action that benefits us (individually or collectively), but we do not realize the divine source of that benefit. For example, God calls a person to become a doctor, therapist, priest, scientist, engineer, etc. That person recognizes the call, its source, and obeys.  Scores of people are benefitted by his or her work (either individually or collectively), but the beneficiaries do not realize that benefit was the result of God’s action.  Those folks miss the full extent of the blessing by missing its divine source.

3.    So how do we avoid that, how do we become more perceptive of God’s actions?  One powerful way is by being intentionally thankful.  St. Paul stressed that, urging that we thank God for His blessings as we go throughout our day. See  Ephesians 5:20, 1 Thessalonians 5:18, Colossians 3:15-17.  That can be supplemented  by  a review of God’s blessings at the end of each day, as discussed  here and here.Those practices make us more aware of God’s actions in our lives. That in turn enhances the impact of His blessings and draws us closer to Him. 

Five other posts considering the Miracle at Cana are linked at Lessons from the Miracle at Cana: Collected--> --> -->