As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. And he did not permit him but said to him, ‘Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.’ And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.
Mark 5:18
One of the greatest miracles that Jesus performed was when He healed a man afflicted by thousands of demons. With great compassion, Jesus cast them out and the man was saved. After receiving such a gift of grace, he naturally wanted to come with Jesus and join as one of the disciples. Jesus tells the man, “no.” What a shocking rejection! Why would Jesus not want this man to come with Him? What Jesus says next helps us understand why the request was denied. Jesus instructs him to go back to his town and proclaim the mercy that had been shown to him. The man doesn’t sulk or protest. He simply returns home to serve in the way Jesus wanted Him to. And he was incredibly successful. In Mark 7:31ff, we see Jesus returning to the region and people show up to meet with Him. Before, they kicked Jesus out as a nuisance and now they welcome Him back as the savior.
We are tempted to get stuck, when Jesus tells us “no.” We question His wisdom and desire to serve Him only in the way we want to serve. We aspire to go on a mission trip, but the funds never arrive and we are unable to go. We plan to enter into a church vocation, but it never materializes and we wonder why God would shut that door. It is tough to hear God say “no.” But we can learn a valuable lesson from the man in Mark 5. Sometimes, our plans are not His plans and He has something different in mind for us to do. It isn’t better or worse; it is simply different. He has called us to do His work, not ours. So the next time we are tempted to get stuck and paralyzed by God’s “no,” we can trust that He has something in mind for us to do that is according to His will.
Rev. Mark ’94 and Heather ’94 Manning
Searchlight Ministries