David Diga Hernandez - The Mess in the Miracle

I want to look at a story in the book of Matthew, chapter number 8. The Bible says this in Matthew 8, beginning at verse 28: When Jesus arrived on the other side of the lake in the region of the Gadarenes, two men who were possessed by demons met him. They came out of the tombs and were so violent that no one could go through that area. They began screaming at him, «Why are you interfering with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torture us before God’s appointed time?» There happened to be a large herd of pigs feeding in the distance, so the demons begged him, «If you cast us out, send us into that herd of pigs.» «All right, go,» Jesus commanded them. So the demons came out of the men and entered the pigs, and the whole herd plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned in the water. The herdsmen fled to the nearby town, telling everyone what happened to the demon-possessed men. The entire town came out to meet Jesus, but they begged him to go away and leave them alone.

Here we see Jesus delivering two demon-possessed men. Now, I believe that those men came to Jesus out of their own free will; though they were influenced by demonic beings, they were still in control of their actions. I believe they fought against those demonic powers as they approached the Master. The men wanted to be free, but the demons wanted to stay. So they approached Jesus, and Jesus exercised his mighty heavenly authority over these demonic forces. Those demonic beings begged, «Please let us go into those pigs.» And Jesus, of course, allowed them to. Now, why they wanted to go into those pigs is a whole different lesson for a whole different time.

But I want to focus on this fact: the townspeople who heard about this miracle were not necessarily happy with Jesus. Sure, as the gospel accounts record, these people saw the men sitting there in their right minds. They witnessed the miracle of deliverance. These men had reputations; they were demoniacs, strange people, psychotic. They would cut themselves and hang around the tombs, howling at the moon. Whenever people tried to restrain them, they would break chains of bondage, and they developed a reputation as demoniacs simply because they were in bondage. Now Jesus comes on the scene and transforms everything. He completely liberates these men; they go instantly from being tormented to being at peace. But the people didn’t really care about that. No, they were worried about the pigs. That affected their economy; that affected their businesses. This was troublesome for them. Jesus came and performed a miracle, yes, but he also stirred up some trouble here. And this, of course, is what God still does today.

This is the mess in the miracle. You see, all of us have this idea; each one of us has a perspective on how we think God should move in our lives. When we pray, we have expectations, and many of us have played out scenarios in our heads where it works out perfectly, just the way we planned, just how we wanted it to go. But that’s not always the case. You see, God has his own plans. God’s ways are not our ways; God’s thoughts are not our thoughts. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts; his ways are higher than our ways. God has his own will, his own purposes, and here’s the truth: his will is not always going to align with your will. You see, when we think of a miracle, we think of everything becoming perfect in an instant, and that does happen. God does perform those wonderful miracles, and those are easier to see. But what’s harder to spot, what’s more difficult to see, is when God is doing something disruptive in our lives. When God moves in a disruptive way, that’s when it’s more difficult to see his hand moving. But he does move in disruptive ways.

God will allow the things we cling to to be shaken. God will allow the economy to be shaken, the political system to be shaken, the healthcare systems to be shaken. He will allow relationships to be shaken and ministries to be shaken. Any system that we can have in place, anything upon which we can rely, God will allow to be shaken, that we might experience the greater glory, that we might experience him in his fullness. My question to you is: do you want a move of God? Do you sincerely, do you truly desire for God to move in your life, in your family, in your ministry, in your nation? If so, you’ll have to accept this fact: though it’s not always the case, God does move in disruptive ways.

As I said earlier, you’ve heard it said that God moves in mysterious ways, and this is true. But God also moves in disruptive ways. This is the mass of a miracle. I’ve seen families torn apart because one person wants to serve Christ, and the rest want nothing to do with that. This is why Jesus said, «I’ve not come to bring peace, but a sword.» He wasn’t talking about violence; he was talking about division. And he wasn’t talking about division for division’s sake; he was talking about the fact that his ways are certain, that his identity is certain. Jesus said, «I am the way, the truth, the life. No man comes to the Father but by me.» And that’s settled; that’s settled on earth and in heaven. No one can change that. And so it is that this reliability of God, this solid foundation of who he is, becomes a point of division because…