Most of us know what it’s like to have a room in the house we don’t want guests to see.

Maybe it’s the garage filled with clutter, or it’s the closet where everything gets shoved when company is coming over. We clean what people will notice and hide what we hope they won’t.

We do the same thing spiritually. We learn how to smile at church while quietly carrying shame. We know how to post the family photo while wrestling with anxiety. We know how to serve on Sunday while secretly wondering if God is tired of dealing with us.

The man (demoniac) in Mark 5 didn’t have a hidden room. His brokenness was public. He lived among tombs, places associated with death, uncleanness, and separation. The community had tried chains and even distanced themselves no doubt. They had ultimately let him be taken over by his ailments.

Then Jesus showed up. What strikes me most isn’t the power of the miracle. It’s the direction of Jesus. Nobody asked Him to come. Nobody believed this man could change. Yet Jesus crossed a storm-tossed sea for one man who couldn’t get to Him.

Grace is Jesus moving toward people who cannot move toward Him. The gospel doesn’t begin with your pursuit of God. It begins with God’s pursuit of you.

Maybe that’s why this story feels so personal. Every believer has a “graveyard” story. A place where sin buried hope. A season where shame felt stronger than faith. A chapter where we wondered if freedom was really possible. No doubt his place of comfort was reflective of his spiritual condition. Dead in sin rather than dead to sin.

But our Jesus specializes in walking into places everyone else avoids.

As Charles Spurgeon said, “Christ can make the worst of sinners into monuments of mercy.”

The man who once cut himself among the tombs is now sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and restored. To be clear, this was not a self-improvement situation. This is a full resurrection!

And if Jesus can restore him, He can restore you.

Final Thought: Stop hiding the place Jesus is already willing to enter.