Matthew 8

8:34 "Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw Him, they pleaded with Him to leave their region."

Jesus is in the middle of working His wonders on earth, healing anyone who would come near Him, and a city asks Him to leave. This seems puzzling, but Luke gives us more insight; he says they asked Him to leave "because they were overcome with fear". Does fear ever get in the way of letting Jesus do His cleansing work in our lives? What might they have been afraid of?

Afraid of loss of things important to us
It's probably most likely they were disturbed by the loss of currency in the form of a herd of pigs. I don't know what a herd of pigs adjusted for inflation costs, but it's probably not cheap. When Jesus takes priority, our material possessions can suffer for it. God knows that money, things, or friends can never bridge the gap of the real need in our lives.

Afraid of disruption of the status quo
The people might have been content with the fact that some demon possessed men were causing trouble in the outskirts and didn't welcome all this attention. Many times, letting Jesus take control of your life will result in major disruptions to our comfortable way of life.

Afraid of conviction
Jesus was healing people and preaching repentance. It is possible that the people were not ready to feel convicted of their sins. It's amazing how sin can cause so much pain and loss in our lives, but we'll still cling to it. We hold on to it claiming "privilege" and scoff at anyone that will make us feel guilty about it.

Are any of these fears keeping me from letting Jesus work in the village of my heart? Am I "pleading him to leave the region". This might happen if I push conviction to the side by taking part in a conversation that doesn't glorify the Lord or putting my personal wants ahead of my family's needs. I need to recognize the great work Jesus is trying to do in my life and LET HIM IN!

Lord, help me to let you do Your sanctifying work in my life. Break my pride and my will so that I will not have any cause to ask You to "leave the room". Guard me from engaging in things that I know would make You ashamed. Never leave me.