Day 88

Deuteronomy 11:1–12:32; Luke 8:22-39; Psalm 70:1-5; Proverbs 12:4

“Why are you interfering with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?”

The words were shrieked into Jesus’ face by a naked man standing on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus had come to that side of the lake through a perilous storm, and apparently, this man was the welcoming party.

As the story began to take shape, it became obvious that the man was oppressed. He had a family, but his life had been robbed through the oppression of a legion of devils, and he ran naked along the lakeshore because the burial grounds —the place he now made his home —were nearby.

Jesus threw the demons out of the man and into a nearby herd of swine. They ran into the water and drowned themselves, causing an uproar among the nearby villagers. Fear swept the cliffs that rise to the Golan Heights, and the people asked Jesus to leave them. Freedom had come, but fear prevailed. It seems they didn’t want Jesus interfering with them any more than the demons did. The man who had been set free begged to come along with Jesus, but Jesus told him to go home to his family and tell everyone what God had done.

It’s fascinating that Jesus came all the way through a treacherous storm to give life back to this one man. It’s quite beautiful, really. But He would do no less for you. He has come that you also might have your life back.

Rather than thrashing about and asking Him why He is interfering with us, perhaps we should trust that the work He came to do —to heal the brokenhearted and set the captives free —hasn’t stopped. This is what Jesus has always been doing. And our resistance to His disruption is really our own declaration that we don’t want Him to interfere with us.

This can be a stark realization that shakes us down to a fundamental question: Do we honestly believe God is good or not? Because if He is, then everything He touches is something He wants to redeem. If redemption and healing are things we long for, then we’ll have to allow Him to interfere with anything that would steal those things away from us.

PRAYER:

May all who search for you be filled with joy and gladness in you. May those who love your salvation repeatedly shout, “God is great!”