Fires, Fish, and First-Time Miracles. . .

Well, I think that--for today, at least--I've snapped out of whatever funk this weekend had me in. It actually started to alleviate last night when I went out for coffee with my friend Becky. One of the (only) nice things about being single is the fact that you're allowed to have friends of the opposite sex to hang out with, and we just had a nice two and a half hours of conversation, venting our frustrations and questions about life, love and God. Sometimes it's nice to have a friend just as frustrated with life as I am. So, it was fun.

Today was a free day, since I was planning it basically as a day to recover from my (nonexistent) trip. It was nice to wake up about nine and just have a cup of coffee and sit over the internet for a bit. I applied for a job. Went to the gym. Went grocery shopping. Nothing big. Oh yeah, and my roommate almost burned our kitchen down while he was cooking. That was funny. Luckily, no damage was done, no injury was inflicted, although it did make him think twice about doing stir fry, I'll bet. :)

Tonight, Brandon and I went to see Open Water. I'm sure there will be a lot of people who, like with The Blair Witch Project, will think it's all hype and no delivery. But I thought it was one of the more suspenseful films in awhile. It's not a gory, violent horror film. Instead, I would compare it more to the The Perfect Storm. It's a harrowing tail of survival. But the scenes of the actors swimming, with sharks right beneath them, created a tension and primal terror that is hard to do with film anymore. The ending was a bit too abrupt for my tastes, but overall it was a great film that will make anyone think twice about ever going scuba diving :) And, it's a nice lesson. . . watch The Discovery Channel during Shark Week and take notes!!

So, then I basically came home and loafed for most of the night. I wrote letters to Erin and Christina, because I remember how fun it was for me to get letters at camp. I'm hoping the camp has a mail delivery system, though. :) Then, I did my devotions.

I read tonight from John 2:1-12, when Jesus performed his first miracle, at the wedding in Cana. It's easy to gloss over things like that, because it's a story we've all heard numerous times before. But tonight I had my eyes opened to something I'd never seen before.

I always thought Jesus' response to his mother was a bit confusing. She asks him to help out with the wine situation and he basically says "Woman, what concern is this of mine?" It's always puzzled me, because it just seems odd. Why would he just rebuff his mother like that? It seems a bit cold and almost rude. And then, he goes and performs the miracle anyway. So, what's up with that?

But today I saw it from a different perspective. Jesus wasn't saying no simply because he didn't want to perform any tricks. It was motives in the asking. Mary was asking Christ to show His power and control over nature. . . after all, can't the Son of God help out the ones he loves? But Christ was reminding her of the true place He had. His job wasn't to be a magician or entertainer. He was here to glorify God, to redeem the lost, to offer salvation. Anything that wasn't part of that was just a hindrance. Yes, he ended up performing a miracle. But that was, as it says in verse 11, to show His glory, not to satisfy some party guests or be a show-off.

Maybe we need to keep that in mind when we come to Christ with our requests. His goal isn't to just give us riches and make us comfortable. Instead, when we come before Him, we have to realize that asking in His name means asking for His glory to be shown. Maybe the reason He says no or takes away some of our plans is because He knows that those things will be a hindrance to us in our pursuit of His glory. Our life is to be lived expressly for the glorification of God. And when we come before God in prayer, I think instead of rattling off a wish list, we need to keep His glory in mind.

Well, that's it for now. Back to work tomorrow. I should try and pick up some overtime this week. Write later!

C-Dubbs