One Faithful Step: Filling the Jars with Water

One Faithful Step: Filling the Jars with Water

An application from John 2:1–25

There is a quiet detail in the opening chapters of the Gospel of John that has stayed with me.

At the wedding in Cana, nothing dramatic is asked of the servants. Jesus does not tell them to pray harder, believe louder, or understand more deeply. He gives a simple instruction:

“Fill the jars with water.”

That is it.

The miracle does not begin with wine. It begins with obedience that looks ordinary.

Naming What Has Run Out

Mary does something equally simple before that moment. She names the shortage:

“They have no more wine.”

She does not fix it.

She does not explain it.

She does not manage the outcome.

She places the lack before Jesus and steps back.

That pattern matters.

My Concrete Step

Here is the one step I am choosing to take in response to this passage:

I will name what has run out in me and place it before Jesus without trying to solve it.

Practically, this looks like this:

I sit alone, quietly, with no agenda.

I write one sentence:

“Lord, I have no more ______.”

I do not explain the blank.

I do not justify it.

I do not turn it into a prayer list or a plan.

Then I stop.

I pray one short sentence:

“I place this in Your hands. I will do whatever You tell me next.”

And I leave it there.

No fixing.

No rushing.

No forcing clarity.

Why This Matters

This step resists my instinct to manage outcomes, optimize solutions, or turn faith into a project. It places me where the servants stood—faithful, available, and unremarkable.

The servants did not make wine.

They carried water.

The transformation was Jesus’ work, not theirs.

What I Am Watching For

I am not watching for a dramatic answer.

I am watching for a quiet instruction.

Something small.

Something ordinary.

Something that feels almost too simple to matter.

That will likely be my “fill the jars with water” moment.

A Closing Reflection

I am not responsible for producing abundance.

I am responsible for obedience.

When I do what I am told—without knowing the outcome—I make room for God to reveal His glory in ways I could not manufacture.

For now, filling the jars is enough.