And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region.
Mark 5:15-17
Lord, as meditate on Your Word, my mind wonders why they would ask You to leave? You have set one of theirs free, yet they want You to leave. You have delivered one that they could not contain, who was hurting himself and others, and yet they want You to leave. You have done marvelous things in their midst, and yet they want You to leave. And not just want, but beg You to go. What is there to be afraid of when You are doing a work in my midst? I must confess, that I too am afraid of that which I do not understand, compelled to reject what I cannot fully comprehend. And when it disrupts my way of life, even the dysfunction that I have become accustomed to, there is something within me that says this can’t be good for me. I, unfortunately, find that I will settle for just good enough rather than long for Your best, and thus find myself inadvertently asking You to leave me alone. Lord, show me where I have embraced brokenness at the expense of the wholeness You have for me. Show me how I have held on to broken ways of thinking, broken relationships, and broken ambitions, fearful of what a change might look like. Help me to grasp hold of Your full vision for my life, free from all encumbrances and bondage, and raise up around me individuals who will not only celebrate the work You are doing in me and through me, but will themselves ask You to do the same in their lives. Lord, You make things whole and new. Today, I ask for You to remove the fear of change from me that I might walk in it throughout this day and everyday, becoming the me You created me to be. Have Your way. Amen.