My friend Martin Rizley recently shared this delightful poem with me and graciously gave me permission to publish it here on oddXian.
Beginning with Christ’s transformation of water into wine at Cana, Martin reflects on a profound theological truth: the God who established and sustains the natural order is never constrained by it. The regularities of creation testify to His faithful providence, while miracles reveal His sovereign freedom to act according to His will.
With wit, poetic charm, and biblical conviction, Martin reminds us that the God who governs all things remains personally involved in His creation.
CANA’S WINE
As long as Cana’s mellow wine
Still sparkles in the glass,
We know God needs no ripened vine
To bring His will to pass.
Nor does He need to wait on time
To set His power loose;
He just sends atoms on a dime
To form fermented juice!
From water, He makes, at His will,
A lake, a stream, a sea;
Then shows His bare arm stronger still
By making chilled Chablis!
He’s free to act outside the frame
Of laws which He ordained
To govern daily in His name
The world He’s long sustained.
He’s not some distant deity
Who merely looks upon
A world He made to oversee
While keeping off the lawn.
No! He’s involved in our affairs;
He hears and answers prayer
And works, at times, just when He dares,
His works extraordinaire–
Such works as fall outside the norm
Of what to us makes sense,
That “break the rules” and don’t conform
To routine providence.
In six brief days He made the earth
And all that it contains;
His boundless power at once gave birth
To stars and seas and plains.
His Word alone brought forth dry land,
And in a single hour
He made the mighty mountains stand
And made green forests flower.
He made the first man from mere dust,
Mature, right from the start,
Prepared to work, upright and just,
Blessed with a sin-free heart.
Likewise, he made the woman, too,
From Adam’s very flesh,
And placed them in their garden zoo
To rule a world still fresh.
All things obey His sovereign will.
He’s free to change time’s flow;
At His decree the sun stands still,
Time speeds up or runs slow.
He makes the sundial’s shade recede.
He makes the axe head float.
Poor asses with their masters plead,
“Don’t beat me, you old goat!”
He can prepare a giant fish
To swallow up a man,
Then make him vomit up that dish
Alive upon dry land.
No, there’s no limit to what God
Can do when He designs
To show us creatures, made of sod,
His power through wondrous signs,
Through works unlike those daily deeds
By which, in boundless grace,
He rules our world, and meets our needs,
And keeps things in their place.
For over this world’s breadth and length,
God rules by stable law,
But He’s still free to show His strength
With signs that overawe!
Martin Rizley
3 November 2026
Mijas Costa, Spain
Republished with the author’s permission on oddXian.com.