No one listens to me

“And ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me:” - Jeremiah 16v12

How do we feel when it seems like no one is listening to us? As a pastor, teacher, and parent there have been many times when it indeed feels like no one will listen to anything I say. We feel frustrated, angry, and even hurt.

The nation of Judah were doing this to God. God was judging the nation because no one in the land was paying any attention to Him. The NKJV translates this passage something like, “they are walking after the dictates of their own hearts and no one is listens to me.”

I don't know if God feels the same kind of emotions as we do. I know that He does have emotions, so I have to assume that He feels something of what we feel in rejection. Can you imagine what it is like to be part of the group that does not listen to Him? He has graciously given us His word. He gives us parents, pastors, and teachers to help guide us. Yet, far too often we choose, like Judah, not to listen to Him and choose instead to listen to and follow the dictates of our own wicked hearts.

May I never be one of those who does not listen to Him.