Jesus never ignores the presence of evil in the world. He acknowledges it and still, He sends His disciples out into it. But He sends them with authority, with grace, and with His protection. When they return, having faced real danger but remained unharmed, He rejoices. And yet, in our own lives, when we encounter suffering or darkness, we might ask—where is that same protection? Are we missing something? Do we lack faith?

But Jesus didn’t promise a life without hardship. He promised that evil would no longer have power over us. What He gives is freedom—not from difficulty itself, but from being ruled by fear. We are no longer at the mercy of what threatens us. That’s why Jesus says to rejoice—not because we’re untouched by struggle, but because our names are written in heaven. That’s the promise that lasts. He invites us to lift our eyes off what’s broken and fix them on eternity.