And he departed , and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel. Mark 5:20 There are three prayers offered in the first half of Mark 5 ... ‘Let us go into the pigs,’ the demons cried. And Jesus said, ‘Go.’ ‘Leave our region,’ said the Gadarenes. And Jesus left. ‘I want to follow You,’ said the previously-demonized man. ‘No,’ Jesus said. When you and I wage war spiritually, when you and I petition and pray perhaps reverently, we must remember, even as this story illustrates so dramatically, that Jesus can say, ‘No’, and ‘No’ is just much an answer as ‘Yes.’ In fact, ‘No’, is sometimes what God reserves especially for those He loves. Why? In the case before us, Jesus answered the prayers of the demons and of an unbelieving, cynical, hostile society. But He answered the prayer of a believer not in the way which affirmed his request, but rather changed his course. No doubt, this once-demonized man was disappointed initially, but he realized he must keep the directive of his Deliverer and thus returned to speak to his community. And Church History records the group of believers which began to surface in the region. The Church had a powerful expression in the area — most likely birthed by the man Jesus sent home. Take hope, dear friend. Your prayers not being answered in the way you desire are not indicative of God not hearing or not caring — for He only said ‘No’ to the one who loved Him.-Jon Courson
Posted on: Fri, 23 Jan 2015 04:13:11 +0000
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