Reading:

John 2 (ESV)

On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. 9 When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” 11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him. 12 After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days. 13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. 23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. 24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

Isaiah 8:11-22 (ESV)

11 For the LORD spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: 12 “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. 13 But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. 14 And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15 And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.” 16 Bind up the testimony; seal the teaching among my disciples. 17 I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. 18 Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. 19 And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? 20 To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. 21 They will pass through the land, greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against their king and their God, and turn their faces upward. 22 And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness.

Meditation:

Wait.  My time has not come.  Not being entrusted to those around him who believed.  Wait. Those around you have no dawn.  Wait.  They are thrust into thick darkness.  Wait.

Waiting is hard.  We have been doing a lot of it recently in our family.  Tomorrow morning between 8am to 9am the container with our stuff will arrive at our home.  The last time I laid eyes on it was the first week of July, 2015.  Some of it has been in boxes since September 2014.  That is a long time.  But it is just stuff.  Some of you may have felt like you have been waiting for something or someone for longer.  You have children, friends, spouses who you desire to see the truth of God come alive in them and it just doesn’t seem to be happening.  You have spent hours praying for them and there seems to be no direction.  Some of you have been praying for healing from ongoing sickness or even a release from the constant pain of a loved one.  Some of you can’t remember the last time you were not in the fog of despair and you just want one small ray of sunlight.

Not yet.  The Lord hides His face and hope is still present.  Destruction will come but rebuilding, resurrection is around the corner.  In the darkness this seems to not be enough.  In the confusion of life we long for answers.  We will look to anything that will promise assurance.  God promises more than assurance.  He promises a real and lasting future.  He promises the culmination of all things.  He promises infinite light.  But before we just hope for the future and gut it out on our own God breaks in to our lives not to explain everything so we can do it on our own power but to ask us to trust him completely.  He then gives us the power to trust.

We might not every understand the wait.  We might be like the disciples who remember what Jesus said and after the resurrection to have an “aha” moment.  But what we do know is the God knows us and will provide what we need, even in the hiding.

Prayer:

Father, we do not like being out of the knowledge of what is going on.  We do not like to feel out of control.  When dread, fear, panic, isolation and darkness hit our lives we find it hard to believe that there is light.  You know this because you know all men and what is in our hearts.  Please give us what we need and what you know we can understand.  Be gentle with your love.  It can overwhelm us.  The power of the resurrection is frightening.  Be our dread.  Be the only thing we put our eyes too.  Be the one in whom we trust and worship.  Jesus you have entrusted us to yourself.  You are our life and comfort.  Thank you for making the way for us. Amen

Lenten Action:

Write down your worries and concerns, those places you feel God is hiding from, on a piece of paper.  Prayer about sharing them with someone and ask them to consider walking with you in these areas.  Ask them to pray about them with you.  Ask them to evaluate and see where God may be revealing Himself in ways you are not seeing.  Prayer that your heart will be receptive to hearing what this dear one will share with you.