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I am using the YouVersion 49 Week Bible Challenge for these devotions. Today’s readings are John 2; Genesis 41; Leviticus 1; Deuteronomy 14. In today’s readings, do you notice a promise to trust, a command to obey, a truth to embrace, a warning to heed, or an encouragement to rest in? What do you learn about God, about yourself, or about the world? Is there one verse or thought that stands out to you today? Talk to God about it.
John 2:1-11
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.
Genesis 41:14-16
Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they quickly brought him out of the pit. And when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came in before Pharaoh. 15 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” 16 Joseph answered Pharaoh, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”
Deuteronomy 14:28-29
“At the end of every three years you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in the same year and lay it up within your towns. 29 And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.
I love the story of Jesus turning water into wine. It says so much about how Jesus knows how to celebrate. It speaks of how Jesus would be a welcome guest at any Christian wedding. It reminds us that wine is a gift of God that, as the psalm says, gladdens the heart (Psalm 104:15). It is testimony of Jesus’ excellence in provision and grace. Not only changing water into wine, but changing it into the best wine. How I would love to have been there and tasted that wine!
The story of Joseph interpreting Pharaoh’s dreams is a keeper too. Forgotten Joseph languishing in prison is suddenly un-forgotten. Remembering his ability to interpret dreams the baker informs Pharaoh of Joseph. Joseph is brought before Pharaoh, gives the honor to God and correctly interprets the dreams. He then becomes second only to Pharaoh in all the land of Egypt. What a story of prison rags to royal panoply!
And look how God regards the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. They get to eat the tithe with the Levites. At least every three years they would feast with the best.
How seriously, however, do we take the other side of the provision of God? Do we see him also in the realm of scarcity? Do we see God at work only when times are good, things are running well, and we are happy and well-fed. Or do we recognize God’s activity in all realms and seasons of life?
To some degree seedtime and harvest, day and night, times of famine and times of plenty are the simple arc of life in this fallen world. There are bound to be days of want as well as days of delight. God is behind it all.
It’s not that God wishes to starve people when he sends hard times upon us. But sometimes he has to get our attention. We can easily grow complacent. We can easily forget how God provides for us each day.
In the days of difficulty, his love for us is no less. He wishes for us to come to him. He desires that we find comfort in his goodness, grace, and mercy. It might be that he is teaching us a lesson about being prepared for hard times by laying up reasonable reserves to tide us over (think of Dave Ramsey’s Rainy Day Fund). It may also be a reminder that man does not live by bread alone (cf. Deuteronomy 8:3).
But it could also be God wishes to remind us of his abundant provision, and wants to teach us to look to him not only because we have to, but because he is rich in mercy and abundant in grace. God loves us and greatly desires good for his people. God has shown us his glory in Jesus’ miracles and ministry. When we see his goodness before our eyes, let us put our faith in him.
David Bahn - Reflections 
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