How Sad

“And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.” (Mr 5:5 AV)

It struck me that this poor man didn’t have a minute of peace.  He was possessed by devils, and they tormented him night and day.  I imagine the first thing he did when the LORD healed him was sleep.  After he went into town and told everyone what Jesus had done, I imagine he laid down and didn’t get up for a day or two.  What a picture of the unregenerate sinner!  He or she is tormented by their sin day and night.  There is no peace for the wicked.  As the Spirit churned this in my heart, I couldn’t help but feel compassion for this man.  To be so controlled by devils as to not have a minute’s peace is unfathomable.  Then I thought of those who are so filled with hate for God they are suffering the same.

The events of the past few weeks have stirred deep emotions in most.  These emotions are understandable.  There are bitterness and anger.  There are sorrow and remorse.  There is resentment and maybe even malice.  There might be envy or victimization.  What is missing is compassion.  Now, before you stop reading, let me explain.  Compassion needs to be grounded in reality.  As a chaplain, there were times that I visited patients who were dying of diseases caused by lifestyle choices.  The disease could have been reversed if they had simply changed how they lived.  By the time I got to them, their condition was so far advanced, only a miracle could save them.  What bothered me the most was their behavior continued even though death was an almost certain outcome.  Compassion did not mean tolerance.  Nor did it require an unrealistic expectation that they would change their ways.  Compassion pushed me to share with them the hope of Jesus Christ and the change that can come with it.  In fact, compassion required that the truth of their actions and the remedy offered were transparent and forceful.

No one is saying that compassion requires the saint to accept someone’s actions.  In fact, just the opposite.  Those who would destroy Christians, thinking they are destroying God, live in a delusion.  One that will end in eternal damnation.  Regardless of how much we might despise their beliefs actions, they are still souls for whom Christ died.  The reality is that most souls who hear the gospel will reject it.  To gain victory over the negative emotional state that we might be in, compassion might be in order.  Yes, there still needs to be justice.  There still needs to be a reckoning.  There must be a response to those who wish others dead simply because of a difference of world views.  This cannot continue.  But let us remind ourselves of a dark truth.  As children of light, we are in our right minds.  As children of darkness, they continually live in darkness.  They are tormented by their sin and rebellion, and it will not end well.  Feeling remorse over the loss of one soul is a godly trait.  God does not rejoice in the death of the wicked.  He mourns, and so too, should we.  Our mourning should be for a nation that has turned its back on God.  Our mourning should be for a nation whose god is their bellies.  Our mourning should be for a nation that desperately needs to wake up before God brings unstoppable judgment.  Our nation is tormented day and night by the wickedness we practice.  Only a miracle by a heaven-sent Savior can change that.