The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name!” (Luke 10:17 NIV)
When I was born again, the last thing I wanted to discuss was demons.
Not only was I finishing a degree and considered myself something of an intellectual, but I’d just fled New Age spirituality, which had failed to cure 17 years of anxiety and depression.
So, I’d had my fill of the supernatural smorgasbord. I was hungry for something that would sit well in collegiate conversations; something reasonable, like the joy of a perfectly placed semi-colon, or a spirited debate about Bible translations.
Plus, the idea of unclean spirits terrified me. Though I knew God, who raised the dead, was Himself supernatural, I preferred to skim past the demonic encounters in Jesus’ ministry and linger on something more relatable, like the Parable of the Lost Son.
But God had other plans for my spiritual and conversational diet.
One night, He gave me a firsthand education in the power of His name over the enemy. I did not plan to encounter the living God in my parents’ backyard on a Tuesday night. I had, in fact, planned to be in bed by 10:00. Thankfully, God has better plans than I do.
It was a summertime backyard Bible study with some friends, and the very epitome of Southern charm. We were three good friends doing exactly what good Texan Christians do: studying the Word of God while sipping sweet tea by the pool.
We discussed Jesus’ authority over demons. The 72 went out with nothing but His name and came back astonished that it worked (Luke 10:17). Then Jesus tells His disciples, “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you” (Luke 10:19). Though we weren’t experts, we believed in the power of His name.
So they prayed over me in Jesus’ name—for hours—and then it happened: I felt a presence and saw a light in the shape of a man. I sensed He had the power to create and destroy the universe, but there was no violence in Him. He was full of love, mercy, and grace. He made the gripping darkness in my mind flee. I fell to my knees. After that moment of encountering Jesus, I have never been the same.
The hornets’ nest in my mind that had hummed and stung its way through 17 years of my life went quiet. If the buzzing begins, I return to Him—His presence, His Word, and His people—and He keeps the quiet when nothing else ever has.
The temptation is to make the miracle the entire story, yet Jesus points to something greater than supernatural authority:
"Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20).
As a disciple of Jesus, you hold citizenship in a kingdom where anxiety, depression, and suffering no longer exist because it’s the dwelling place of God, who is the source of peace. Every moment of the peace that “transcends all understanding” (Philippians 4:7) is that kingdom colliding with what we experience on earth.
That reality does not erase struggling in this life, but it does give us a basis for hope. The promise of the Gospel is that the peace we can taste in part, we will one day inherit in full.
When we struggle with racing thoughts and crushing sadness, we can take heart; we belong to the One who holds authority over everything that has ever frightened us. He is with us, and He loves us. He knows your name, your pain, and everything you are going through. He is inviting you to draw closer to Him—now and for eternity.
~
Scripture quotations are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
