I’m going back to Tuesday, when I was talking about Jesus and wine.

We are waiting for Jesus to do the same kind of miracle. Our wine is all gone. Our family is sick. We are confused. People aren’t responding to our cries for help.

We are hoping for a miracle and we’re not seeing anything happen. We are praying and praying and someone is still sick. We are hoping and hoping and we are still without a job, are still without direction, are still wondering.

And we are waiting for God to come through.

But what does coming through look like? What would count as “God coming through?”

Is the only measure for things to be the way we want them to be? Or is it possible that there are other ways that God may be present in our stories?

Earlier we read one of the lists of gifts that Paul provides. We talk about these as spiritual gifts. God gives us things we can do.

But that’s the “me” focus. We can also consider the “us” focus.

Paul suggests that God is always working through people.

Let’s read it again.

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

We are given messages to share with each other, messages that are given from God, through the Holy Spirit.

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More tomorrow.