You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. Psalm 23:5 (NKJV)

Part 3 – Wine on the Table

Go to  PART 1  |  PART 2

God doesn’t just show up in the midst of our trouble and fear, he somehow manages to make sure we’re fed good and proper in the middle of it all too. Imagine being in a moment of intense pressure and fear, when all of a sudden God whips on an apron, whistles a happy tune and starts making Nonna’s pasta sauce in a big old Italian ceramic pot. He sets the table, using only the best wares, finishing it off with the most magnificent array of flowers right in the middle. Through the whole thing, we just stand there watching, dumbfounded, chins on the ground. He catches our shocked looks and shrugs in our direction, “What? You too skinny, you eat more food” (Please tell me you read that with an Italian accent!) and then gets on with making us the most incredible feast. In this Psalm, David describes God as going all out. It's wasn't a quick meal; eat the bare essentials while running from the enemy. It was a sit-down, gourmet, best meal of your life kind-of feast.

Jesus was at a wedding in Cana when late into the celebrations, they ran out of wine. This doesn’t sound too drastic, but in a culture that centred around hospitality, sharing meals and being generous in celebration, it was shameful to run out of wine (or food) while were proceedings were still going. But they had completely run out. After a conversation with his mother and the disciples, Jesus turned 6 stone jars of water into wine. And not just any wine, this was top shelf, incredible, amazing wine. The best they had ever tasted.

In both instances, God could have gotten away with doing something smaller.

A small meal while hiding from the enemy in Psalm 23 would have sufficed. I would have been thankful for that. And ANY wine for the wedding at Cana would have been a godsend! (literally). But each time, God overflowed with abundance and extravagance, going all out in his love, making a statement of value.

I have been through some hard times, as I’m sure you have too. During some of the seasons of struggle and pain, I wasn’t sure I would make it. I wouldn’t wish some of the things that have happened to me on ANYONE. But something happens during those seasons. The divine weaves his love and grace into the picture in such a way that when you look back there’s a beauty to it all that takes your breath away. There’s a depth that wasn’t there before, rare and priceless wisdom too. You learn to breathe deeper, love longer and hope more keenly than before. And after a while I realised that although I don't want to go through those things again, I wouldn’t change them for the world. I don’t want to give back what I've learned, what God unearthed in me… the feast he prepared for me and the wine he miraculously provided for me.

Life is not mere subsistence… God doesn’t want us to settle for water when he can give us the elixir of life. Just as it happened to Jesus on the cross, God divinely takes the deaths that take place in our lives and unites them with resurrection. He brings together the natural and the supernatural, the pain and the joy, the suffering and the peace, the loss and the wisdom and brings heaven to earth right there in the middle of it all.

Thank God for the hunger (Psalm 23), thank God for running out of wine (Wedding at Cana in John 2); how else would we taste the depth of his mercy, love, faithfulness and grace.

“You become my delicious feast even when my enemies dare to fight. You anoint me with the fragrance of your Holy Spirit; You give me all I can drink of you until my heart overflows.” Ps 23:5 (PT).

Go to Pleasure Seeker – Part 4

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