Judith 16:4-5. The Assyrian came with his warriors, blocking the valleys and boasting that he would burn up the territory and kill all the young men; that he would dash the infants to the ground and seize the children as prey; that he would take the virgins as booty.

The devil always overplays his hand. It is crazy, because he knows he lost! But he's apparently not too smart, and he gets drunk on the power that we give him (we are giving him a lot - we are feeding him more and more every day!)

So he comes, clogging up our valleys, preventing escape, and boasting of all the evil he will accomplish. Now don't get me wrong, if not for God and Jesus' sacrifice for us, the devil would be accomplishing his evil plan. But we, like Judith, know that God is with us.

We just have to be brave in the face of evil and its boasting and do our part to fight it, after asking God for his help and following his prompts and directions. We will suffer, we all suffer, because this world is fallen, because we are all sinners, and because the devil is in charge of this world. But we have been saved, we have been redeemed, and we know who wins in the end!