Jeremiah 29:11-13 Jesus came with shouts of peace, peace to the people on earth!

 Jeremiah 24:7 Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart

We will probably never understand why good people suffer but we can know that it is not the way of God. He cares for us and He is in control. Ultimately He doesn’t want anyone to be without Him. Just as He told Jonah about the people of Ninevah they mattered to Him. People matter to God and He prolongs the window of His salvation even if there are very few who return the love that He offers.  God gave the world that He created over to mankind and in our  free will we choose to care or not to care for His creation. We choose whom we will serve. We can rest assured that our faith is honored above all and how we treat others is our outward expression of our love for God. We can choose to respect others even those we disagree with. We can choose good and not evil and with the power of Holy Spirit it is attainable. He promises us that if we seek Him with all our heart He will give us a new heart of love and we will find Him. Carla

Jeremiah 29:11-13

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. (NKJV)

Yahweh assures the exiles that His long-term plan is good and that He has not abandoned them. Their national calamity would have precipitated feelings of hopelessness and abandonment. I will restore is a  promise of salvation based on Deuteronomy 30:3 and a common image in the prophetic books. Faithlife Study Bible

I know the thoughts that I think: The Lord here places considerable emphasis on His unchangeable plan to bring peace and not evil. A future … a hope. God had not terminated His relationship with Judah; He remembered His covenant promises of restoration (Deuteronomy 30:1–10).

The promised response of the Lord to the people’s prayers stands in contrast to His refusal to hear in 7:16. The picture here differs greatly from the usual depiction of the heart of the people of Judah as stubborn and wicked (3:10; 4:14; 7:24). God would search the people’s heart and reveal its true character (11:20). The NKJV Study Bible

Deuteronomy 4:29

But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. 

Jeremiah 33:3

‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’

Daniel 9:3

Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. 

Psalm 145:19

He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;

He also will hear their cry and save them.

Children (and the child in all of us) need to see positive confirmation of themselves in the world around them and they need to believe in their capacity to love, a capacity fueled by embracing vulnerability even in pain and suffering and brokenness.

Yes, and amen. Even in cacophony, we are still connected to one another. We still make a difference. A human world of helping. No one of us is on this journey alone.

And maybe, the armor can come down. Sabbath Moments