Day 2. The Lord's Time
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"My hour has not yet come." John 2:4
He meant that His time for beginning to work miracles had not yet come. With all divine power slumbering in His hands — He would do nothing at any bidding but His Father's. Even His human mother's request, He could not in this matter regard.
One thought here is our Lord's perfect devotion to His Father's will. We find the same all through His life. He did nothing of Himself. He took His work moment by moment from His Father's hand. He waited always for His "hour." He had no plans of His own — but followed the Divine purpose in all His acts. All those early years at Nazareth, with omnipotence in His arm, He wrought no miracle. Even now, though appealed to by His mother whom He so deeply loved — He would not do anything even one minute before His hour came.
The practical lesson for us here is devotion to God's will. We should always wait for God. Too many of us run before we are sent. In our zeal for God's cause and kingdom, we do not wait for Divine direction. We speak words out of season which, despite their earnestness and sincerity — do harm rather than good. We try to feed others with unripe fruits.We address men before they are prepared to hear, and oft-times in words that drive them beyond our reach. We hurry out to preach — when we ought ourselves to be sitting quietly at our Master's feet as learners.
The most common fault among Christians is that they are too slow in doing Christ's work and in heeding His calls; but it is a fault also to go too fast for God — to go before He sends us. With all warm love for Christ we must learn to wait for Him, to wait until our hour has come. He must prepare us for the work before we are ready to do it, and then He must prepare the work for our hand. In Christian work we need patience and self-restraint — as well as zeal and earnestness.
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