Since the beginning of time, without even making a sound, the Lord has been speaking to us through his Word. God speaks to us through His creative, perfect, generous, and eternal creation. We read from the prophet Isaiah, “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God remains forever.” This Word is distinct from creation, for he is the creator and has a voice other than our own. Everything else on earth and in heaven will pass away, but the Word of the Lord will always stand. And so, this is our great comfort. For the Word is the one true thing that we can depend on. Not people, not things, not institutions, not even our own selves, but the Word, which is God’s promise of unmerited favor to us in Jesus Christ. The Word of God is powerful. Many words from the Scriptures can reshape the inner self. Henri Nouwen writes, “When I take the words that strike me during a service into the day and slowly repeat them while reading or working, more or less chewing on them, they create new life. Sometimes, when I wake up during the night, I am still saying them, and they become like wings carrying me above the moods and turbulences of the days and weeks.”