Do Whatever He Tells You

His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever He tells you.” Jn. 2:5

Four years ago this month, my church choir went to Italy on tour. We sang in churches in every city we visited – Venice, Bologna, Florence, Rome – and on the bus during the drives between cities! In Rome, our final stop, we sang for the Sunday evening Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, and later gave a concert at the Gesu Church across town. I got to conduct for all of those and it was the thrill, bar none, of my musical life. I still have the poster from the concert hanging in my office and, from time to time, relive that experience with great fondness.

While we were leaving St. Peter’s, one of the men in the choir approached me, gave me a big hug and exclaimed, “Do you realize what you just did?” At the time, I couldn’t fully appreciate the magnitude of the experience. After 10 days of touring and all the pent up emotional energy that went into the preparation, I was completely spent. Still, the experience was one of those magical moments in my life as a church musician, and it took quite a long time to come down off the “high” that followed, and get back to the less glamorous business of learning new music, running rehearsals, etc.

Most of us can remember that seminal moment when we first made our commitment to the Lord. Even those who were raised in devout Christian homes can usually point to some defining moment. We also remember pivotal moments in our spiritual journey. It might be some profound insight that came in prayer, an experience of anointing, the baptism in the Holy Spirit, or some other experience that takes us “somewhere else.” For some people, such an outpouring may come when dealing with grief or loss, such as the death or serious illness of a loved one, loss of employment, family problems, etc. – those moments when we realize and, more importantly, accept our utter and total dependence on God.

However it happens, each of those moments is a special touch of God’s grace that allows us to say “Yes” to Him in a new way. In such moments of transfiguration, particularly the more euphoria-producing ones, it can be tempting to be like Peter and want to build a tent and stay on the mountain (cf. Mk. 9:5), to try to freeze that experience in time. But such moments of grace are not given us to cling to or to brag about, or to hoard away only for ourselves.

So you might say, “OK, I’ve said ‘Yes’ to the Lord. Now what? What does one do with such graces? The account of the wedding feast at Cana can give us some insight here. Grace is like the water jars that were standing there when Mary told Jesus, “They have no more wine.” The servants could have filled them as they were asked, and then walked away. Instead, they went a step further and did exactly as Jesus told them. They not only filled the jars with water, but they trusted Him and risked ridicule by taking some to the chief steward. We can well imagine that the lives of those servants were never the same after witnessing what happened next – that personal touch of God.

Whatever our spiritual experiences might be, whatever we might think we’re being asked to do, the litmus test is this: Does the experience bring me closer to Christ? Does it cause me to want to know Him better and understand His will for my life? Do I want to live that out, whether it is convenient or inconvenient (2 Tim. 4:2)? We need to make sure that we don’t just enter the race, but that we push on to the finish line, that we might win an imperishable crown (1 Cor.9:25).

Prayer Request: For those taking their first steps on their spiritual journey.

Prayer: Lord God, we thank You for reaching into our humanity with those special touches of Your grace. Grant us the gift of discernment, that we might know Your will and desire more fully to do it. We make this prayer through Christ, our Lord. Amen.