I have been memorizing the book of Mark and have actually been going through the book of mark in my daily readings, so I'm getting a lot of mark these days.
I was recently memorizing mark 5 and I noticed something that I never noticed before. the chapter starts with a man who is demon possessed. his life is a mess. he is isolated. he is unpredictable and out of control. the bible tells us that he is housing a legion of demons in his body and heart. then jesus comes and sets him free.
his change was so radical that when people saw him sitting down next to jesus, under control and dressed, they were shocked. after he was healed, the man had one request: let me go with you and be your disciple.
what does jesus say? does jesus say no to that kind of thing? does jesus say no ever? there have been several times that I have seen in the gospels where jesus does not turn down anyone for anything. he interacts with crowds and heals every single person. he feeds every single person. but in this situation mark says this in verse 18:
"As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him"
here is a man who clearly loves jesus. he asks jesus for something simple- he even begs jesus for it, and jesus says no. this man prays for something, and jesus does not answer his prayer- he says no to this man's request.
I guess that this is comforting to me- because I have been in this situation too often in recent years- asking and begging jesus for something- and getting a no. begging for my mother's health to be restored, begging for a new job, begging for a relationship to be healed; praying and praying, and getting a no.
in those moments I question myself: why am I getting a no? is it because God is angry with me? is this a punishment? has he forgotten me? is he ignoring me?
in the story of the demon-possessed man, it says "jesus said no" but that sentence doesn't end with a period, but a comma. and after the comma there is a but.
the sentence reads, "As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, "Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you."
Jesus said no to the demon-possessed man's request- but not because of the man's sins or because he disliked him, he said no because he had something more for him. he has an assignment for him, a new role. Jesus had a dream and a purpose for this man's experience and his story- he wanted to use this story to bring glory to himself.
I put myself in this man's shoes. when jesus said no, and then go, I imagine that he was disappointed. he would rather be with jesus. he would rather experience more miracles; but jesus had something different for him- something better that he had dreamed for himself.
mark goes on to write: "So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. and all the people were amazed."
in the end, people were amazed. jesus was glorified. people put their faith in him. and that was because jesus said no to his request.
I like to think that God has not answered my previous prayers because He had something more for me; something better than I imagined for myself. and I hope that, just like in this story, that people will be amazed at Jesus; and that his fame will increase because of my obedience and trust.
I don't know if anyone reads this, but maybe you have not received the answers to prayer that you have been looking for. maybe you have questioned yourself in the same way that I have. and just like the story, maybe God is saying no because He has something better: a new purpose; an assignment; a special job for you to do with your experience.
God is love.
rev-rob
1 comments:
❤️
Post a Comment