Proverbs 10:24 What the wicked fears will come upon him, but the desire of the righteous will be granted.

The amazing transformation that took place in the mind, body, and soul of the madman of Gadara is a powerful demonstration of the love and power of Jesus Christ. The madman had been possessed by a legion of devils and they had driven him into self-destructive behaviour and insanity. He could not be shackled or chained in place because his violence was so demonically eruptive that he broke the chains with unnatural strength. Luke 8:29b Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.

The story of this tormented man is a microcosm of the state of affairs going on throughout the world right now. Madness in different forms has become a state of being among many people just trying to get through their day. Fear and anxiety in the world are at a fevered pitch. If statistics can be believed, there are references and speculation that over thirty-five percent of the population is living with anxiety and multiple sorts of mental disorders. This has caused many to react with self-harm and violence towards others that were provoked by everyday mundane events but escalated to horrible atrocities.

The Western world used to be an example of unity and tolerance for those looking for a decent life. However, we are now becoming a place where people want to leave and find a different location where it is possible to live in relative peace. There seems to be a type of prison-yard gang survivalism going on, and as we put the pieces to one terrible event together in our minds, we are hit with another one of more egregious and deadly results, causing a permanent fear to lurk in our minds. As the saying goes: fear does not stop death; it stops life. Psalm 108:12 Give us help from trouble, for the help of man is useless.

Real freedom comes from God and not from manmade mandates of theoretic cohabitation. The more mankind tries to squirm out from God’s protection and directions in life, the more bound they become. Then we end up watering down our strength with a form of tolerance that makes everyone become simpletons. As someone said, “Tolerance will reach such a level that intelligent people will be banned from thinking so as not to offend the imbeciles.”

I wonder if this is what happened when the people from the nearby towns came to see what Jesus had done for the madman. The real madness that sticks out to me in this story is the reaction of the town’s folk. When they saw this once-possessed madman wearing clothes and in his right mind with the ability to reason – the people from the town were filled with fear at the fact that the madman was now healed and appeared to be normal. Luke 8:35 People rushed out to see what had happened. A crowd soon gathered around Jesus, and they saw the man who had been freed from the demons. He was sitting at Jesus’ feet, fully clothed and perfectly sane, and they were all afraid.

They had become accustomed and adjusted in their lives to the madness of this man. His insane craziness was the norm, but finding this man in his right mind caused great fear and their reaction was to ask Jesus to leave town. Luke 8:37a And all the people in the region of the Gerasenes begged Jesus to go away and leave them alone, for a great wave of fear swept over them. This is irrational. There should have been jubilation at the miraculous healing and changes that took place in this man’s life. There should have been gratefulness that the howling and screeching would not be a part of their nightly terrors.

This makes me wonder if we too are becoming adjusted and numb to the insanity in the world. Are we rationalizing the actions and insidious events going on around us to falsify a sense of security in our minds? Prov. 10:24 What the wicked fears will come upon him, but the desire of the righteous will be granted. We need to remember that we are the righteousness of God through Christ. We do not have to fear the devastation that is going on in the world. We need to be aware and informed of life’s events but not paralyzed by them so that we end up losing our ability to reason.

The word clearly states that towards the end times, there will be tribulations throughout the world. There will be a need for rational thinkers who are in Christ to help point out that there is victory in life when Jesus is on the throne of our hearts. Living in fear will stop us from seeing the blessings God has given us. However, living in the faith of the finished work of the cross will bring us abundant life. Let us remember to celebrate the miracles going on around us that are taking place every day. Let us not become complacent with the absurdities going on in life but rather, recognize them and pray for guidance through them. For those who are in Christ, we are not survivors going through life, we are more than conquerors overcoming the problems in life. If Jesus is our Lord, then we need to remember who we are, and not fear what the world calls normal. Amen and amen!