And God Heard

"He cried for freedom, and God heard."

IT DOESN'T SAY WHY nor how nor who he was before. A businessman? A father? Surely a brother and a son. Maybe he was a craftsman, talented in gold and silver. Or maybe a vinedresser, crafting the finest wine. It doesn't record his laughter, boy-pranks growing up, late nights with his best friends in that place where they always met. We aren't told about his teenage years and the girl he fell in love with, nor their romance, if there was one. Or maybe he wasn't wed at all. It could be he had a dog that followed him everywhere and everyone knew it. "Go home! Shoo!" they'd wave and send it scampering back to him, a smile on their face. Nothing says what went wrong. If he lost his peace in an argument that quickly went south or caught some illness that lingered and so he lost his job. But whatever happened, wherever he began and however he lived, he had a name. And God knew him. Knew the horror. Knew the torment. Saw the torture he couldn't escape. Heard the words he cried out amongst the tombs. And sent His only Son to set him free.

A man lost to darkness, at the whim of the devil's pride, unimportant to the populace, of no value to anyone anymore, nowhere near a temple or any synagogue, without gold or incense or sacrifice to give, his body scarred from shedding his own blood, running naked on the hillsides, drew the presence of Jesus Christ. And fell down and worshipped, knowing what so many did not, that there stood God.

God knew the thoughts and intents of his heart, saw his downsitting and uprising, knew his words before they were spoken, saw his losses, knew his footsteps, and cared only that he be set free. God heard his plea. We've concentrated on his appearance, on the strength of the enemy to break fetters and chains, on the pig farmers, on the pigs. We speculate about the culture. Were they Jewish or not? On their financial losses. On Jesus making a point. He did make a point. He asked the demon what was its name, needing to know if there was one devil or many. Then when they begged not to be sent back to the abyss, He allowed them to flee into the herd, knowing they'd end up there anyway. The size of the herd shows the size of the problem. 2,000 pigs ran into the sea, and that's too many. One man refused to die despite 2,000 devils torturing him night and day. 2,000! Despite the violence he could not stop, and the torment in his mind, he cried for freedom, and God heard.

This isn't about pigs or Jewishness or money, although that Jesus performed the man's deliverance in front of witnesses is of importance to note. And that they begged Him to leave there afterward, more comfortable with the man screaming amongst the graves than to see him seated and clothed and in his right mind.

This is about the millions like him who think they are too far gone, who have identities, families to return home to, and talents they'd honed and were good at before, whose value isn't in who they have become when the devil entered in, but in the heart of the Father who sees each one of them. He knew the man of Gadarene fought to survive, and in the face of a group of pig farmers, set him free. This is about the size of the God who stood before them. This is about a man with a name who lived out the rest of his life sane. And about the others who are like him today. And about the church growing in knowledge of what Jesus accomplished. Because the same Spirit which lives in Him, which anointed him on that hillside, now lives in us.

God asks us to grow in wisdom and revelation. Not in fear. We do not fear the devil. But to refuse to know what to do with what some people are suffering shows laziness on our part. And frankly, it’s incomprehensible. God knew the Gadarene. No one is discarded who cries out for Him. Even when one man lived so remote, was so forgotten that no one cared to save him, even though he was so consumed by darkness so great it’d kill an entire herd of pigs, to God he was worth it. To God they are worth it. And the Word of God and the authority and power of the name of Jesus and the Spirit of God are given to us for a reason. Not so we’d harbor them for ourselves. Not as adornments, necklaces and bracelets, nor as badges we’ve earned to hang on the wall, but to cast out devils and see people set free.

“How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.” (Acts 10:38)

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com