Today’s passage is Mark 5:1-20. When Jesus and his disciples arrive on the other side of the lake, they are greeted by a man possessed by a legion of evil spirits. Through the man, who is wild and lives in the tombs, the evil spirits address Jesus in his true identity and when he orders them out of the man, they beg him to send them into a herd of 2000 pigs, which he does. The pigs stampede down to the lake and drown. When news of this reaches town, people come out, see the man quiet and normal, and they beg Jesus to go away. The man wants to go with Jesus but Jesus tells him to go home and give his testimony.
What is the legion of tasks or demands that drives you crazy?
How do you share your story?
Today’s passage made me think of the phrases I use or hear a lot from others
: I’m too busy; I don’t have enough time
; I can’t go because I have another appointment
;Why do I have so much to do? I’ll do it later, not now
; If only life were simple! I wish I were better organized
; I had to work late; I’m going to be late
; where do you find the time to read or exercise?
The demands of family, work, and selfish desires feel like a thousand demons in my life.
I make plans that then are derailed by other demands.
Or I get sick and then everything is screwed up and suddenly I’m more behind in what I have to do.
Or I procrastinate and then pressing deadlines ratchet up my stress levels and I rush what I have to do, often losing my temper.
Or I simply don’t know how to do something and I’m afraid to ask for help because of my pride and the result is yet another botched or incomplete task.
For a great deal of my day--of my life, in fact!--I feel like I’m in a graveyard of tasks or duties I didn’t do.
Their tombs are pressing reminders of my failures.
I can’t seem to break free to go home.
Rare are the moments when I can sit at Jesus’ feet, clothed and in my right mind.
Most of the time I rage and tear at myself in distress.
When I was growing up, I often heard the expression, “Go jump in the lake!”
This meant you and your idea needed to be drowned, killed.
That’s exactly what happens to the evil spirits in today’s passage: they come out of the man, go into the pigs who jump in the lake and drown.
Unless I die to myself and the two thousand agendas I allowed into myself, I cannot be reborn in Jesus. But this is really, really hard.
The way that God helps me is with a question:
What is important? That’s his reminder to get me focused.
There are a few answers to the question but the first answer is my relationship with God is the most important.
To grow that relationship I need to spend time with my Lord.
That’s where QT is vital.
It helps tame me enough to sit with Jesus for an hour each day in my right mind.
I need that hour because on the way to the Decapolis to tell my story, I often wander back into the graveyard of undone tasks and unfulfilled duties. Lord, have mercy.
Application: keep doing my QT.
Lord, give me your peace and your strength as I face you each day in order to fulfill the tasks you have set before me.
