For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them. Matthew 13:15.

Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him. For the Lord is your life. Deuteronomy 30:19-20.

We know that all things work together for good to those who love God. Romans 8:28.

We have opportunities to trust Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit, and no more so than when life falls apart and worries overwhelm us. When life hums along and things go well, we can’t help but take that for granted. I think God allows things to fall apart because they will. If our trust is in the impermanence of the things of this world, how can our trust not be shaken? So this resonated with me from My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers: “It is only a faithful person who truly believes that God sovereignly controls his circumstances. We take our circumstances for granted, saying God is in control, but not really believing it. We act as if the things that happen were completely controlled by people. To be faithful in every circumstance means that we have only one loyalty, or object of our faith – the Lord Jesus Christ. God may cause our circumstances to suddenly fall apart, which may bring the realization of our unfaithfulness to Him for not recognizing that He had ordained the situation. We never saw what He was trying to accomplish, and that exact event will never be repeated in our life. This is where the test of our faithfulness comes. If we will just learn to worship God even during the difficult circumstances, He will change them for the better very quickly if He so chooses…The goal of faithfulness is not that we will do work for God, but that He will be free to do His work through us.” And I would humbly add…He will be free to do within us, His work in us so needed for our good in Him.

That’s about trusting God. And our chapter, Jeremiah 24, is about exactly that for the people who have the choice to trust God and do what He tells them – or turn away from Him. First, remember in Jeremiah 21:8-10, God through Jeremiah told the people what they should do when their nation was falling apart because they didn’t trust in God alone…“Furthermore, tell the people, ‘This is what the Lord says: See, I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death. Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague. But whoever goes out and surrenders to the Babylonians who are besieging you will live; they will escape with their lives. I have determined to do this city harm and not good, declares the Lord. It will be given into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will destroy it with fire.’” And in our chapter, it’s happened. After Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and the officials, the skilled workers and the artisans of Judah were carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Lord showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the temple of the Lord. One basket had very good figs, like those that ripen early; the other basket had very bad figs, so bad they could not be eaten. Then the Lord asked me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” “Figs,” I answered. “The good ones are very good, but the bad ones are so bad they cannot be eaten.” Then the word of the Lord came to me: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Like these good figs, I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I sent away from this place to the land of the Babylonians. My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them. I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord. They will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with all their heart. But like the bad figs, which are so bad they cannot be eaten,’ says the Lord, ‘so will I deal with Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials and the survivors from Jerusalem, whether they remain in this land or live in Egypt. I will make them abhorrent and an offense to all the kingdoms of the earth, a reproach and a byword, a curse and an object of ridicule, wherever I banish them. I will send the sword, famine and plague against them until they are destroyed from the land I gave to them and their ancestors.’” v. 1-10.

When you are deeply shaken by events in your life or the lives of those you love, remember God. Trust Him to work for the good that is needed. And the good that is needed? His work in us, His children dearly loved by Him. I wish we could see His holiness before us but that is not how He chooses to work. But as we turn to Him, something remarkable happens within us. We are in a relationship with our Holy Sovereign God and He is the one we trust for all things. That is our hope and our promise. And He is faithful! My eyes will watch over them for their good…I will build them up and not tear them down…I will plant them and not uproot them…I will give them a heart to know Me, that I AM the Lord. They will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with all their heart.