"What goes around, comes around." This will always be so, as long as man chooses sin over virtues requiring self-denial. It is we who empower Satan whenever we consent to sin.
“Seek good and not evil, that you may live; Then truly will the LORD, the God of hosts, be with you as you claim!” The prophet Amos told the people to amend their ways. They claimed to be following God by doing ceremonial things, but their basic commitment to “seeking good and not evil” required attention. (Amos 5:14-15, 21-24)
Jesus, traveling through pagan territory encountered a violent, self-destructive demoniac possessed by a "legion" of evil spirits. Christ never forces His will on anyone, but when the man prostrated himself before Him, Jesus commanded the spirits to leave him. The spirits, comfortable in pagan territory, begged not to be banished from the area, so Jesus allowed them to enter the nearby large herds of swine that then rushed madly into the sea to drown. Seeing the madman suddenly restored to his senses and their great loss of livestock, the natives, in fear, begged Jesus to leave them. However, His saving power remained with them. Jesus left behind the healed man to tell the wonder done for him by the One True God. (Matthew 8:28-34)
Amos’ admonition should sting our hearts. Doing ceremonial things is easier than following the inner witness to seek good and avoid evil. A lot of us share the Gadarenes’ wariness of the Lord, keeping Him at a distance because we fear what it might cost us, without recognizing that He alone is good. When we sin by suppressing the anamnesis of good vs evil, we deform our inner selves. Thanks be to God that the inner sense He implanted within us is still there, making us uncomfortable with our bad choices, drawing us to repentance!
God, the most perfect of parents, forgives and restores to His friendship, sinners who repent and work to reform their lives. But He also sometimes allows them to suffer the consequences of their selfish actions along with their innocent victims in hopes they’ll develop a keener, more compassionate conscience. Such was King David's experience after lust caused him to plan Uriah's death to marry his wife. We see him in fear, fleeing his palace, losing his kingship to Absalom, the son who betrays him. (2Samuel:11)
In both of the Scripture accounts (David’s sin and the demoniac exorcised by Jesus) humans are “beset”. Who among us is not “beset”? Who hasn’t felt completely overwhelmed? Sometimes we’re overwhelmed through our own fault (bad or nonexistent scheduling, discipline, choices); sometimes it seems that we’re being nibbled to death for no apparent reason.
Sometimes we want to strike back, or out, to heave the rocks and the dirt back in the direction they came from; other times we wish our own problems on others (lacking a herd of swine). I have some advice for these times:
First, let’s take a deep breath. Then, let’s ask Jesus to help us out of the mess that we’ve got ourselves into. That, really, is what faith is largely about; helping us overcome being “beset.”
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