Silent Cries Are Heard By God

I have been thinking about the man who lived among the tombs. He was so tormented. There was no comfort for him. He could not even be restrained. The worst part of his story is that he continually cut himself with stones. I guess he had a particularly deep sense of self-loathing.

This man, whose story can be found in the New Testament of the Bible, was demon-possessed. Do I believe in demon possession? Absolutely. Man is spirit at his core. The spirit lives on forever after the body has decayed. If the spirit is not filled by God, it is wide open to intervention by Satan, the enemy of our souls.

Mark 5:5 says of the man "And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones." He was crying out. There are many ways to cry out. Some of them are silent. The man who works night and day, until his family forgets what he looks like, driven by a fear of failure. The teenage girl who exercises for hours on end to have the perfect body. The housewife who keeps her home razor-sharp, and her fashionable wardrobe on the cutting edge, who invites only the "best"people to her parties and bites her nails as she waits for the RSVPs. Who doesn't sleep at night because, no matter who DOES come to her parties, she feels she is nobody and that, one day, everyone will find this out. There is the widow who leaves the house to get the mail and a few groceries, to see a doctor now and again, but for no other reason. Every day looks the same and all hope is gone.

Each of these people, though they may or may not suffer from demon possession (some do), are certainly oppressed by the devil. They have lost their joy. They are slaves to negative emotions and the accompanying habits which are destroying them from the inside out.

Jesus set the man who wandered among the tombs free. It was such an incredible miracle that when those who had been acquainted with him saw him "sitting and clothed and in his right mind," they were afraid. The power of God to transform this person took them aback. The people I described above might not seem to be out of their minds. They are, however, in need of the "right mind," or the mind of Christ, which is marked by peace, joy, acceptance of the love of God, balanced perspective and right priorities.

Here is a prayer that King David prayed, which is recorded in Psalm 142. He felt alone, as many people do every single day. He was overwhelmed. Be sure to notice the very last line. This is where his faith, and ours, should rest.

"I cry out to the Lord with my voice;
With my voice to the Lord I make my supplication.
I pour out my complaint before Him;
I declare before Him my trouble.
When my spirit was overwhelmed within me,
Then You knew my path.
In the way in which I walk
They have secretly set a snare for me.
Look on my right hand and see,
For there is no one who acknowledges me;
Refuge has failed me;
No one cares for my soul.
I cried out to You, O Lord;
I said, 'You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.
Attend to my cry,
For I am brought very low;
Deliver me from my persecutors,
For they are stronger than I.
Bring my soul out of prison,
That I may praise Your name;
The righteous shall surround me,
For You shall deal bountifully with me.'"