Neither he nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention to the words the LORD had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet. – Jeremiah 37:2

Today's Scripture Reading (June 5, 2020): Jeremiah 37

American poet Criss Jami argues that we should "Listen to God with a broken heart. He is not only the doctor who mends it, but also the father who wipes away the tears." I have known several doctors who were experts in their profession, but who struggled with the emotional side of the equation. For them, it seems that the totality of the human experience is found in the physical aspects of the body for which they are experts. Outside of that, people and their problems seem to confuse them. And, often, it is our broken emotions that really needs attention when we are sick. The body can be dealt with, but it is our emotions, our tears, that has the mysterious power to magnify our pain.

And, sometimes, we need to be reminded that God understands what is wrong in all of the many arenas where we struggle with life. He is the Great Physician, able to heal our bodies. But more importantly, he is also the Father who not only wipes away our tears, but he understands them; something that many human doctors seem to be unable to do.

As a result, there might be no greater sin that we commit against God than just that we refuse to listen to him. He speaks, but we refuse to hear the words. We reject that our God could possibly know anything about our very human problems, not just as the one who is in control of the big-ticket items in our lives, but also that he understands the emotions that lie behind our behavior. So much of the pain we experience could be avoided by simply listening to the direction of God with a broken and contrite heart. This heart is willing to follow whatever actions that the Great Physician directs us to take, knowing that, if we do, he will be there to stand beside us and wash away our tears.

But that was not a move that King Zedekiah, or any of his officials, desired to take. They were the masters of their fate. They thought they knew better than anyone else what it was that Jerusalem needed. And as Jeremiah came into their presence, weeping over their rejection of the God who had come to help, they rejected God's prophet as well.

And therein lies another problem. Because, in reality, it doesn't matter how much our doctors know if we are unwilling to listen to their words.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 38