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Many years ago a friend of mine was having a very bad day. He was visibly upset and he and I went into his room to talk about it. He began to tell me that he and a friend went out to minister to people that afternoon. While they were out he saw a girl being pushed forcibly into the back of a car. As he began to run over and intervene he was grabbed by his friend who said "Let's go pray about it." So they went and prayed about it. My friend was so shaken up at this point in our conversation he began to say "God please don't let me see things like this happen if you won't allow me to do something about it!" To be honest, just hearing the story shook me! I really had no words of comfort for my friend either. I was so new in my own relationship with Christ.
What came to follow that evening my friend and I spoke were questions that I began to ask. I said "Lord going and getting into a physical altercation is not a good option, but neither is going off somewhere to pray about something that is happening in front of me now. Lord what would you have done?" Some days went by as I continued to ponder about this predicament, then I came upon this story.
Mark 5
1 And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.
2 And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,
3 Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains:
4 Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him.
5 And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.
6 But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him,
7 And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.
8 For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.
9 And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.
10 And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country.
11 Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding.
12 And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.
13 And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea.
14 And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done.
15 And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.
16 And they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil, and also concerning the swine.
17 And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts.
18 And when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him.
19 Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.
20 And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel.
Know who you are my child and My authority which I give to you.
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Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light. John 12:36, NIV
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According to His riches in glory refers to a biblical promise found in Philippians 4:19, which states that God will supply all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. This verse emphasizes God's provision and generosity towards believers.
You said "many years ago", so I'm guessing this was before almost everyone carried cellphones with cameras everywhere they went. These days someone who was afraid to intervene could take a photo and text it to a 9-1-1 operator in a lot of places. I don't think your friend did anything wrong by trying to help. Not everyone is called to do that in a similar (and hopefully extremely rare) situation, but your friend wasn't necessarily wrong.
Peace and blessings.
There is a fictional story that goes ...
It was around 3:00 a.m., a man was sleeping inside his house when he heard yelling outside. He went out to see what happened and saw two men arguing so he went outside to them and tried to calm them down. They took his jacket and ran off with it. So the two men pretended they were quarreling to steal the man's jacket. (I think it was cold out).
But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
James 2:18 NKJV
Again, thank you, IrishDrewski. These real life examples show The Word Alive. God Bless.
"Thank you for sharing this excellent example of Faith without works."
- It's funny how you put it that bluntly. It is not a compliment, is it? LOL
Thank you IrishDrewski for posting about this incident. I am wondering whether your friend and his friend knew what really took place. It appeared that they thought something very evil was happening. Could it be some sort of domestic dispute or a case of kidnapping?
I asked my husband what he thought about this incident. He said they could try to write down the license plate number. My thought is they could be killed in the process of peeking behind that car. Thank God this kind of incidents is not something that anyone will witness often (a man pushing a woman in the back of a car forcefully). I think my opinion is if you feel you can intervene safely (if you know for sure the man will not attack you severely or kill you) then it is a good thing to do (good work).
That is just my personal opinion of what one should or should not do, and I am speaking from a point of view of someone who has constantly lived in rough areas due to low incomes. A lot of the violent men carry guns. It is a dangerous world on this side of reality. That is not to say no one should intervene in that said incident of a man suspiciously pushing the woman into the car. I would say that these days people are more concerned for their own safety than risking their lives to safe someone. It is sad but true. It is also sad that it is not safe to help another person in some situations. There were incidents of some big crowds watching a woman being beaten up badly in public and did nothing, just watched. That was definitely bad. I would assume some of them called the police.
I think when we think about how to love our neighbors as ourselves, the story of the good Samaritan is a good example. The good Samaritan, however, found the wounded man after he was beaten up, not while he was being beaten up. That was not my point (I don't mean to wait till the bad guys were gone). The point is we should help someone who is in needs when we can as opposed to walking away. That is an ideal. In reality, sadly people in these days don't care much. In the case of seeing someone about to drown, and you know how to swim, I think most people will jump in to help.
To be honest, one of my unresolved questions is to what extent God expects us to intervene. I tried to intervene non-forcefully in some situation in the past and my intervention was unhelpful, even though it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. But no one else was intervening, and it is also not Godly to just allow evil to be evil knowing that God will punish it later, because that is not truly standing for God. ((Sigh)).
Anyway, thanks for explaining.
When I was younger I heard a story meant to show how terribly hard "missionary work" is. I believe the story really happened.
There were some missionaries in some country in Africa, I have forgotten which one over the years. They were in a country where there were strong divisions either racially or religiously (or maybe both) and there was some ethnic cleansing going on. One night some leaders were holding a prayer meeting inside the church. Two or three girls from the less powerful group were being pursued by "soldiers" from the more powerful group. The girls ran to the church for refuge. The church kept its doors locked and allowed the girls to be beaten to death on their porch rather than allow the girls in and risk the lives of all those in attendance. Such a terribly sad choice to have to make. (Here ends the story).
Ever since I heard that story I have questioned, why wouldn't God have protected the church.? Didn't the church leaders know that God would have protected them all if they let the girls in? I guess in my thoughts I condemn this church, but many of them probably truly believed in God.
So, one day when I've learned to walk with God better maybe I'll know when God is willing to intervene (and when He isn't) and what He wants my part in that to be.
Peace and blessings.
Back when I was in Thailand (40 years ago) we had stories like two Catholic nuns were kidnapped by the terrorist Muslims in the south of Thailand for ransom. The church decided if they gave them the money, it would happen again and again so they didn't give the money, and the two nuns were pushed off the cliff! I was about 24 years old at the time and didn't know what to think and still don't know now. I could picture the Catholic church running out of money completely if they gave in to the request but picturing the two nuns falling off the cliff and died was not a great picture either. It terrorized me greatly. I don't remember whether I condemned the church or not. I don't think they had a lot of money. (I think I was mad at the church).
I am presently reading the BIBLE ,again .
I have a number of times .My favorite version is KING JAMES.I Love its poetic nature
I like Mark 5 in the NT. .JESUS demonstrated HIS power in a mighty way by sending the multitude of demons into a group of swine. .Amazing!
Today I read Hosea chapters 9 and 10.
Verse 12 in chapter 10 says
"Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers righteousness on you."