Topic: When Jesus Says No
Speaker: Berron Fuhri, Family Pastor
Date: March 12, 2023
John 2:4-10 (NLT)
4 “Dear woman, that’s not our problem,” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.” 5 But his mother told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6 Standing nearby were six stone water jars, used for Jewish ceremonial washing. Each could hold twenty to thirty gallons. 7 Jesus told the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” When the jars had been filled, 8 he said, “Now dip some out, and take it to the master of ceremonies.” So the servants followed his instructions. 9 When the master of ceremonies tasted the water that was now wine, not knowing where it had come from (though, of course, the servants knew), he called the bridegroom over. 10 “A host always serves the best wine first,” he said. “Then, when everyone has had a lot to drink, he brings out the less expensive wine. But you have kept the best until now!”
- Sometimes God’s answer is more about giving us what we need than giving us what we want. In what ways has God answered prayer differently than you wanted or expected? Is there something in your life you are currently waiting to hear from God on?
- What is your response when Jesus does not answer in the way you are expecting or hoping for?
Romans 8:28 (NLT)
“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”
Sometimes when the wine runs out in our lives it’s because God is trying to wake us from our comfortable spiritual slumber, or he has something else for us to learn. The Apostle Paul had the experience of this:
2 Corinthians 12:6-10
But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, 7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
3. We are all facing different situations and challenges in our lives, some excruciatingly painful. In all of these things, God wants us to come to him with open hands. In what way can you give control to God in your life this week?
