Joel 4:12-21 / Luke 11:27-28
As much as we see so much sin and evil happening around us, yet the great consolation is that the world has not become like hell. And it won't! Certainly not.
That is because the good that is created in every human being will keep resisting evil and keep it from being overwhelming.
So though evil may be widespread, yet it can never conquer all and have the last triumph.
Evil may win a battle, but that does not mean that it has won the war.
God gave His people a promise through the prophet Joel in the 1st reading.
The Lord will be a shelter for His people, a stronghold for the sons of Israel (Joel 4:16)
So in the face of evil, we have to stand on God's promises, otherwise we will not stand at all.
We can only remain standing in the fight against evil when we listen to the Word of God and keep it.
The Word of God urges us to love our enemies and to do good to those who persecute us.
When we keep God's Word and live it out in our lives, then evil will lose its power and its sting.
Indeed, blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it, for they will bring love and peace into the world.