The Bible says when ‘those who had seen what happened told the others about the demon-possessed man and the pigs…the crowd began pleading with Jesus to…leave them alone’ (vv. 16-17 NLT). They had just witnessed an astounding miracle, yet here they were ‘pleading with Jesus to…leave them alone’. Maybe they were afraid He’d interfere with their work, like He did with the owner of the pigs. Or they thought He was so powerful and unpredictable they didn’t want Him messing with their lives. Either way, they wanted no part of what Jesus had to offer. We may not directly say to God, ‘leave me alone’ but we can keep areas of our lives away from Him. We can have parts of our lives that we don’t want Him to get involved in. We may be happy to let Him in to our family, but not our work life. Or happy to let Him have our public lives, but we want to keep our private lives to ourselves. We’re happy to let Him use our skills, but we’d rather keep our money under our own control. But God wants all of us, not just a part. He wants to be Lord of every aspect of our lives – including those areas where we’d like to be left to our own devices. If we’re struggling to let God in to some areas of our lives, we need to reassess our hearts. Are we finding it hard to trust God? Do we feel like we need to be in control rather than surrender to Him? Instead of saying to God ‘leave me alone’, let’s say to Him ‘please come into all areas of my life.’

What Now?

Is there an area of your life that you’re not letting God in to? Ask Him to come into that area today.