It is the unnoticed things that people do that make a difference. In the home, workplace, or our churches, once they leave, we discover their unnoticed activities and understand why things worked so smoothly when they were there. When I was the medical director of my former laboratory, I worked with the director of our human relations department to review the employee annual evaluations. As we sifted through the employee files, we came to Sally, a laboratory assistant.
The HR director read an evaluation by one of her supervisors, “Sally is an excellent employee who also completes her assigned tasks on time and with precision. Sally also does many unnoticed things that contribute to the overall success of the organization. She clears cluttered areas in the common areas. She helps to organize events for the laboratory, such as recognizing personal milestones like birthdays and anniversaries. She is a morale builder.”
I reflected upon these statements. I did not realize it was Sally who did these activities. These were certainly not written in her job description and she received no extra compensation for her generous spirit. Would the company cease to exist if she did not do these activities? Of course not. Yet, her actions created a pleasant work environment, one that was joyfully and graciously recognized by all the employees and management. I was thankful to have Sally work in my company.
The Apostle John placed the story of Jesus turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana as the first miracle and sign that Jesus did. Most know this familiar story of Jesus, His mother, and His disciples being invited to a wedding. During the celebration, they ran out of wine and His mother asked Him to do something. During this time, it was a major social embarrassment for something like this to happen. Jesus obliged and turned six stone waterpots of water into wine. For a first miracle, I would have expected something grander, on the order of His last miracle, the raising of Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1-46). The Holy Spirit clearly wanted to impress an important spiritual lesson. While Bible scholars have written about the significance of this miracle, extracting deep metaphorical links to the wine and Jesus’ own blood which He would shed on the Cross, I prefer a simpler explanation.
This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.
John 2:11 (NASB)
Jesus did this miracle to help the bride and groom and not embarrass the master of the reception ceremony. He mollified a potentially volatile situation. If Jesus did not do this miracle, the wedding would have still gone on, although many of the guests would certainly have been disgruntled. Jesus’ actions went largely unnoticed by the people whom He helped the most, but His disciples witnessed what happened and they believed in Him. The Holy Spirit directed the Apostle John to place this as Jesus’ first miracle to show us that it is not the size or grandeur of the miracle, but the intent.
The unnoticed things.
The Bible does not record all of the actions and words that Jesus spoke. The story of turning water into wine gives us a glimpse into Jesus’ serving spirit and the depth of His compassion for people who may not have even realized He did this miracle for them. Not all of His miracles may have attracted as much attention as raising the dead or walking on water, but all were done to manifest the glory of God and lead us into a saving faith of salvation through faith and belief in His Name.
I wonder how many times Jesus has done the same for my life? Sometimes I think that miracles have to be big and bold, like healing me of a sickness. I am grateful that Jesus has done this for me but I am certain that Jesus has done many more things in my life that went unnoticed by me because they were not as obvious, but made my life easier and more enjoyable. Like the guests at the wedding in Cana, I was the recipient of Jesus’ miracles but ignorant of what He did for me.
What about you?
We may never have the opportunity to meet Sally or other people like her, but we all have the opportunity to meet Jesus Christ. God gave us the Bible, His sacred Word, so that we can learn for ourselves that by confessing and repenting of our sins and accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we can receive eternal life and salvation. He is always knocking on the door of our hearts and extending an invitation to us. He speaks to all of us in many different ways, but sometimes His voice goes unnoticed.
Won’t you take the time to listen to Him?
Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life.
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