Pleading with Jesus

The winds were high. The boat was being swamped. The disciples were terrified. They pleaded with Jesus to wake up and do something. As Jesus woke up from His deep sleep in the boat, He simply told the wind and the waves to “Be still!” And the wind and the waves obeyed Him. When they got to the other side of the lake, they were met by a man who wandered day and night in the tombs cutting himself and howling. And Jesus told the legion of demons to leave him and they did. They went straight into a herd of 200 pigs that plunged into the lake and drowned! Imagine being a disciple or a herdsman at that scene!

I wonder how I would have responded. The people pleaded with Jesus to leave their community. So He did. And I wonder, why did they ask Him to leave? The disciples pleaded with Him to save them. Other communities brought their sick and possessed people to Him to be healed. The man who was healed wanted to go with Jesus, but Jesus asked the healed man to stay back and tell the people what God had done for him.

As I ponder this, I wonder if the people asked Jesus to leave because they saw Him as a danger to their economy. After all, 200 pigs just ran into the lake and drowned. Were they frightened by His power? Maybe they had felt in control of their lives and everything was going along just fine before He showed up. What would He do next if He stayed? Would He mess up their comfortable lives? Would He look into the secret places in their lives and expose them?

Psalm 139:23 “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.” That can be a dangerous prayer. If I am truly asking God to do that, I need to be ready for what He will uncover in me. But when He brings things to light, it always leads to healing if I will confess and allow Him to come into that place and clean it up.

If all I want in life is to remain comfortable and feel safe, I cannot follow Jesus. He is not “safe” in that way. He will ask me to go places and do things that I am not comfortable with. He will ask me to give up anything that gets between me and God. But the great thing is that He does not ask me to go alone. He promises to go with me, to never leave me, and to guide me. I am always safe with Him. He also promises us eternal life with Him if we follow Him. I do not need to fear death because, as Paul says, “For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Philippians 1:21.

Holy Father, I never want to push you away because I fear anything. You said in Your Word that perfect love casts out all fear. Fill me with Your perfect love and help me to move forward with confidence wherever You lead me. Amen.