I've come to tell you your 
best days are not behind you.  

God is not like that. He didn't let you run 
out because he left you; he let it run out  

so he could give you something better than 
what you brought to the party to begin with.

"You flipped the flow." Verse 10: "You have 
saved the best till now." But how did he do it?  

How did he do it? Everything you're running 
out of in your life today is in Jesus.  

It's in him. There are three things I 
want to show you, and then we'll go.

First, it's not going to be in the 
places you expect. It's going to be  

nearby. It's not going to be by you moving 
to a new situation or thinking your solution  

is out there somewhere. It's not going 
to be distant; it's going to be nearby.  

Verse 6. Where were the stone water 
jars? Pay attention to the details.  

Nearby. Where is the help God has given you 
for the shortage in your life? It's nearby.

The reason we don't see what's nearby is because 
when something is close we see it as common.  

These were stone jars made of earth. 
They were leak-proof so they wouldn't  

be ceremonially unclean, but there was nothing 
gold-plated about them. These were not iced-out  

jars. That's not what made them special. What 
was special was what was inside. Jesus right  

here could have been like the disciples. 
"Go to town. You have to get some wine."

The thing about Cana is it's in the middle of 
nowhere, so they can't go get anything, so they  

have to use something nearby. I wonder what's 
nearby that if you pour yourself into it God can  

flow again through your life. It's nearby. It's so 
close. Remember, they all came into the party and  

washed their hands. The miracle was in something 
they had already walked by to get to the party.  

The miracle is in something 
you're walking by every day.

It's in a Bible-reading plan you already started 
but just quit, and you can pick it back up.  

The wisdom you need might be in the wife 
you chose to do life with six years ago,  

but you don't want to listen to her because she's 
nearby. I will see men go to conferences to learn  

how to be a better man, but they won't even listen 
to their own wife because they don't want to be  

humble. I'm telling you it's nearby. It's not 
out there. That's not where the provision is.

It's not somewhere out there. It's nearby. 
It's going to be so close. You'll miss it  

if you're not careful. It's going to be 
so close. It's something you're walking  

by right now. You've been praying for 
it. It's an orange gratitude journal  

that's right there on your bed. It's an 
exercise plan you already know to do.

It's going to be nearby, and it's going to 
be normal. That's the second thing. It's  

going to be normal. It's not going to feel 
so supernatural. It's going to feel natural,  

and then it's going to be super, but you 
can't wait for something special. You  

have to embrace something normal. "We 
have this treasure in earthen vessels,  

that the excellency of the power 
might be from God, and not from us."

It's coming through something 
normal. It's going to be normal.  

It's going to be habits. 
It's going to be discipline.  

It's going to be normal. "God, use me." 
"Go home and have dinner with your family."  

It's going to be normal. It's not going 
to be exciting. It's not going to be sexy.

It's not going to be Instagram models in 
bikinis on the beach. It's going to be  

normal. It's going to be natural, but it's going 
to be super. When God gets done with normal,  

what happens on the inside of what looks normal 
on the outside… God is doing something in me.  

I wonder what you've been walking 
by because it looks normal.

You don't even notice it, because it's 
nearby and it's normal and it's now.  

Jesus said, "Now…" "Not after I've explained 
it to you…now." He didn't tell them,  

"Now when you draw it out it's going to 
start to turn purple. Like when you stir  

the Kool-Aid… There's going to be a fermentation 
process, and the molecular structure is going  

to… Let me draw it up for you guys. It's okay, 
everybody. Come on in, come on in, guys." Now.

"I know you don't know what I'm going to do, 
but I already know. I know you don't know why  

I'm telling you to do this, but I know. I know 
you don't know why I'm telling you to forgive,  

but I know what I want to do that I can't 
do in your life if you have a clogged heart,  

so do it now. Now!" "Now faith is 
the substance of things hoped for."  

Jesus never points to what's next without 
dealing with what's now. "Now draw it out." Now.

I could imagine. He could have gone around the 
whole party, saying, "You should have planned  

better, and you should have known better," but 
he didn't do any of that, because he didn't point  

to what they should have done. It doesn't do any 
good. He points to what is now. Now. "Even though  

you could have done better… You could have done a 
better job. You need to fire your wedding planner.  

I hope you didn't give her too much of a deposit, 
because she really screwed this up, but now…"

That's actually what Mary and Martha said to 
Jesus when he showed up for Lazarus. "If you  

would have been here, our brother would not 
have died, but even now…" I feel the power of  

now on this word today. Now, now, now, now, now. 
The truth is you might be running out of time.  

Jesus only had three years on earth. 
Isn't it crazy? Think about this.  

I know what it feels like to be 
empty. I've been there in my own life,  

just dry and empty. "If another person 
asks me… I don't even want to do it."

There's something significant not only about 
what Jesus did, water into wine, the law into  

the Spirit. We could preach about that. We will 
one day. That he did it in a ceremonial jar  

and it was an idea of the fact that the ceremonial 
washings of Moses were now being replaced by  

the blood that would be shed. It's all in 
there. It's a sign. It's pointing to a lot,  

but why did he do it in Cana? Why 
did he show his glory in Cana?

To understand this, we need to meet Nathanael.  

Nathanael was a disciple who came to 
Jesus. Guess who brought him, by the way:  

Philip, the one Jesus asked, "Where are we going 
to get the bread from?" but he already knew.  

I promise you he already knows, but he's just 
trying to make sure you know where it comes from.

Philip brought Nathanael to Jesus. John 
1:45: "Philip found Nathanael and told him,  

'We have found the one Moses wrote about in the 
Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus  

of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.'" There were 456 
different expectations of the Jewish Messiah.  

Philip was doing the math. "Carry the one."

He said, "I think this is him. I think so. I'm 
not sure, but come see." Nathanael starts trying  

to figure it out based on what he can understand. 
He's like, "Did you say Nazareth, that hick town?"  

He's like, "Nazareth?" Moncks 
Corner? See, I'm used to  

being from a place people don't 
respect when you say the name of it.

"Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" 
Nathanael asked the question, and Philip said,  

"I can't answer that, but you can come 
see." Now watch this. This is where it  

gets good. "When Jesus saw Nathanael…" I 
always preach John, chapter 2, thinking  

verse 1 is where it started, "On the third day 
Jesus went to Cana…" but it started before that.

"When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said 
of him, 'Here truly is an Israelite in whom there  

is no deceit.'" Nathanael was kind of creeped 
out. In verse 48 he said, "How do you know me?"  

"We haven't met. How do you know?" He 
said, "I know what's in you." He said,  

"But you don't know me." He said, "But I know 
what's in you." One time when Elijah was little,  

he would walk around the house going, "How do 
you know my name? How do you know my name?"

I think he heard it on a TV show. I thought that 
was so bizarre. He'd walk up to Holly and me,  

"How do you know my name? How do you know 
my name?" I'd say, "Because I made you.  

Because I gave you your name." "I know 
who you are. I know what's in you."  

Jesus looks at Nathanael and knows what's 
in him because Nathanael came from him.

Now watch this. This is so important. For 
everybody who spends a lot of time feeling like  

what's against you is greater than what's in you,  

I want you to know God already knows what's 
against you and he already knows what's in you.  

I said, he already knows what's against 
you and he already knows what's in you.

He said, "I saw you while you were still 
under the fig tree before Philip called you."  

Nathanael said, "Rabbi, you are the 
Son of God; you are the king of Israel.  

You hadn't even met me yet, and you saw me 
before I was called." "You mean you saw me in  

this situation before I was even in it? You saw me 
in this dry place before it even stopped raining?  

You saw me in this dumb decision? You saw me 
in this divorce? You saw me in this low place?"

He said, "Yeah, I saw you. I wouldn't have 
put you in it if I didn't put it in you.  

You have it in you, and you will not run out, and 
it will not run out. It will not run out. You will  

accomplish your purpose. You will fulfill. You 
will complete your assignment. It is in you."

I love Jesus. He said, "You believe because I 
told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will  

see greater things than that." Then they 
went to Cana so Jesus could show Nathanael  

what he just told him. "I am the one who 
flips the flow. I am the one who gives grace  

for shame. I am the one who turns rejection into 
blessing. I am the resurrection. I am the life."

Your struggle is a sign. Your setback is a 
sign. Your secrets are a sign. God is with you.  

It is in you. Come on, release 
a shout of praise in the place!  

I said release a shout of praise! 
Give him praise! You will not run out.

You might not have any wine, but if you have the 
one who can stir the water you will never lack.  

You will make it, and you will 
achieve it, in Jesus' name!