Encouragement

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TIMELY HELP IS ON THE WAY!

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. John 2:1-10;

There comes a time in everybody’s life when need for urgent help arises, whatever happens at such critical moments is capable of affecting a man’s life in the most significant ways. If timely help arrives when a man is desperately in need of help, life can indeed be sweet and interesting, but if help is far away when a man is in dire need of help, life can be frustrating and terribly bitter! According to Psalm 46:1, the Almighty God is a present help in the days of troubles; this implies that the children of God can always have the assurance that He will be there for them at very critical moments of their lives. In life, critical times of troubles and severe challenges are bound to come for everyone, but what’s crucial is whether a man has access to divine assistance and timely help that comes only from above.

Looking at the wedding in Cana of Galilee, the first important secret we need to discover about receiving divine assistance and timely help from God is that, it was not at the point the couple ran into critical situation of lack of wine at their wedding that they hurriedly looked for and invited Jesus to the occasion, Jesus had previously been invited and was already seated at the event from the very beginning. I’m sure the couple never knew or envisaged they were going to run into problems when they were taking the decision to invite Jesus to their wedding. Their invitation to Christ was particularly informed by the respect and recognition they had for Him, and not because they were expecting Him to solve any problem for them. Timely help comes only to those who had already given God His rightful place in their lives and affairs, those who think they can use God for their own selfish ends are huge jokers! The reason many people don’t have access to timely help that comes from God is because they never see the need to give Jesus His rightful place in the affairs of their lives but will want to hurriedly call on Him only in times of emergencies, this approach can never work! It’s wrong for anyone to think that he or she can use God; we need Jesus, not necessarily because of the problems we’re expecting Him to solve for us, but because the whole of our lives depend totally on Him!

Another truth is that for you to experience timely help and divine assistance, you don’t have to wait till the time of critical needs before you recognize that the most significant figure in the affairs of your life is God. This is where many of us are getting it wrong in life; we pay so much attention to people and things which are less important, while the Almighty God, who alone is the centre of our lives, is completely ignored and neglected. The couple that invited Jesus to their wedding probably invited Him just like any other guest, and most likely paid Him no particular attention at the feast, not until they came to the critical point of lack of wine at the event. It was only Mary, the Lord’s mother who recognized her Son’s divinity and what He was capable of doing, that turned in the right direction when there was a serious problem of want of wine. When you’re in need of help, in which direction do you turn? When you’re trapped in the midst of troubles, who do you call? If you desire to receive timely help in times of need, you must learn to look in the right direction. As long as you make the mistake of leaning on and giving undue recognition to mortal men who have nothing to offer, at the expense of the Almighty God, timely help and divine assistance may not come your way.

In addition, one major thing that paved way for the timely help that came from Jesus at the marriage in Cana of Galilee was total obedience. Mary the mother of the Lord advised the servants, possibly from her own personal experiences and past dealing with the Lord, ‘Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it’. It is worthy of note that when Mary took the matter of lack of wine to Jesus, she didn’t get the kind of response she had expected, she probably had thought Jesus would jump into immediate action in response to her request, but through His reply, Jesus made it clear that He would do nothing until ‘his hour has come’, which means He would not respond to any request until He received a clear approval from above. Mary’s response to this actually leaves us with great lessons. When we are in critical situations and in desperate need of help, do we really care to obey God to details, or are we too much in a hurry to pay attention to God’s instructions? If you want heaven to send timely help your way in times of need, you must always be prepared to obey God to the letters. You don’t have to understand the details of what God is doing, all you need do is to respond in simple obedience to His instructions, even if they seem not to make sense to you.

The miracle of provision of divine wine by the Lord at the wedding in Cana of Galilee was really timely. At a point when the couple had run out of wine and were going to suffer shame and ridicule, the Lord showed up for them. God is still in business of sending timely help and divine assistance to those who trust and give Him His rightful place. It does not matter how critical the situations may be, God’s children should always have the assurance that help is just a call away. The divine intervention and timely help you need is actually between your knees and the ground! You can call on the name of Jesus, not only when you’re in need of help, but at all times since your entire life depends on your relationship with Him. Never reduce your relationship with Christ to only the time you’re faced with challenges or urgent needs, recognize that in Him you live, move and have your being! With Jesus Christ taking the centre stage of your life, you can never lack divine assistance; timely help is on the way for you! Amen.

By: Ezekiel Olukolajo
Contact: [email protected]

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