LENT, DAY 10: RESTORED TO COMMUNITY
FAST FROM: Isolating Yourself
“Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you.”
— Mark 5:19 (NIV)
Yesterday we were introduced to a man that experienced Jesus’ delivering and saving power. Let me tell you about his predicament: Mark 5 tells us that before his encounter with Jesus, this man lived among the tombs and he would cry out day and night cut himself with stones. After the man was delivered… wow! Mark 5:15 says others saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind. In terror, the townspeople asked Jesus to leave their region. But this man (formerly demon-possessed, but now delivered) he wanted to leave with Jesus.
But Jesus sent him home. Jesus’ healing power can not only bless us individually, but it can reconnect us to people, places, and environments that we were once a part of. I get it, though, in some seasons isolation actually feels safer. After demons. After disappointment. After failure. After betrayal. But healing pulls us back into community.
Maybe just maybe your testimony is meant for someone else’s breakthrough.
Reflection Questions
Where have you withdrawn from community?
Who needs to hear what God has done for you?
Today’s Affirmations
I am restored and reconnected.
My story has purpose.
I belong in community.
Kingdom Marker: Journeying together strengthens faith.
Prayer
Lord, Thank you for healing me, delivering me, and setting me free. In moments where I may want to retreat and help me reconnect where I have withdrawn. I know that we have overcome by the blood of the lamb and the words of our testimony. Use my testimony to bless others. Amen.
