When Pigs Fly

I'm sure you've heard the expression, "when pigs fly," right? It's typically used to describe something that will never happen. Many have used this saying when talking about the Eagles' chances of winning a Super Bowl or the day that Steeler fans will stop flashing their make-believe rings like gangster rap stars.

But did you ever experience a time when the pigs actually flew? When the impossible happened? What did you do? What was your response?

There is this story in the Bible about a man who was possessed by an evil spirit. Jesus sees him and casts out the demon into a herd of pigs that then flew over a cliff and died. (OK, so they didn't fly. They dropped off the cliff like anvils. I had to find some way of luring you in with the title.) People seeing what happened were amazed and astonished. So amazed and astonished that they asked him to leave the town immediately. You heard me, they wanted him out.

What would cause a group of people to see a miracle like that and want the Miracle Maker to exit? Wouldn't you think the opposite would happen? We see in other times and places that crowds of people would follow him everywhere. They couldn't get enough of him.

This begs the question: Why are some drawn to him while others are drawing a map to help him find His way back to where He came from? I believe that it’s conviction. In this case they saw God's hand extending through his Son's, and that was too close. They knew if Jesus stuck around that "other things" may be released and uncovered. And they liked how things had been.

Jesus uncovers.

Part of his mission while on earth was to pull the blankets off what people were hiding.  

The “pigs that fly” phenomenon in this story and in ours is that God wants to free us, and He'll go to great lengths to make it happen. He can do for you what no one else and nothing else can do.The question is, Do we want to see what we've grown so close to, what we've come to enjoy and rely on go away? Do we want our "pigs" to disappear? 

Another part of this story that I love is when the guy who was healed asks Jesus if he can get in the boat and leave with him. Jesus says, "No, go to your family and share what God has done for you and how merciful He has been." So he did. He even went to other towns, and the Bible says that everyone was "amazed" at what he told them. 

Sometimes we just want to stay in the boat, don't we? But Jesus wants us to go. As we share our "when pigs fly" moments and how God freed us, they will be amazed and maybe... just maybe... they'll ask him in instead of showing him the way out.

May we be ever ready to open our whole lives to Jesus, giving him full access to reveal, expose and ultimately release whatever we're holding too tightly.

Let the pigs fly!