You’re sitting in a dark room and shout out, “Let there be light!”  You pause expectantly. Nothing. You try again, this time with a bit more gusto. “Let there be light!” You pause again. Still nothing, but you really knew that all along. You could whisper it, shout it, sing it, say it in another language, but unless you walked over to the light switch, you’ll remain in a dark room. Our words can be powerful in that they can encourage or discourage another person. Our words can express care, or they can hurt. Our words can teach and inspire. While powerful, they are nothing in comparison to God’s words. His words have power beyond what we can understand. Think of creation. God spoke the simple words, “Let there be” and there was light, darkness, firmament, trees, fish, animals, stars, sun, mountains, and on and on.

Think of the many times that Jesus spoke, and miracles happened. A lame man walked with sins forgiven and body healed. Lazarus rose from his tomb. The storm at sea was calmed. Leprosy gone, Jairus’ daughter and the widow’s son raised from the dead. He spoke and his words had power over life, over health, over nature.

Jesus also used his powerful words that have us in awe in another way. Several times Jesus demonstrated his power over his enemies and over Satan. Luke 8:26-39, a reading from this Sunday, shares the account of Jesus restoring a demon-possessed man. In this story, Jesus gave permission to the demons to leave the man and go into a herd of pigs. The demons needed his permission. His words have power to create, to forgive, to heal, and to protect and save those he loves from evil.

What does that mean for us? As today’s reading shares, we can stand in awe and praise God for all he has done for us and continues to do. We are witnesses who get to tell all that God has done. Every time we share a Bible story or tell about the miracles of Jesus, God uses it for his glory and to push back the power of Satan. While not taking Satan’s power for granted, we don’t need to fear Satan and his attacks on us. God is our protector and defender whose love for us defeated Satan. We can live each day with bold confidence as God’s dearly loved child. We can use our words to share God’s Word. As today’s verses say, we can shout it, say it, sing about God’s awesome power and his love for us! Shout for joy!