Jeremiah 8:18-22

18 I would comfort myself in sorrow;
My heart is faint in me.
19 Listen! The voice,
The cry of the daughter of my people
From a far country:
“Is not the LORD in Zion?
Is not her King in her?”
“Why have they provoked Me to anger
With their carved images—
With foreign idols?”
20 “The harvest is past,
The summer is ended,
And we are not saved!”
21 For the hurt of the daughter of my people I am hurt.
I am mourning;
Astonishment has taken hold of me.
22 Is there no balm in Gilead,
Is there no physician there?
Why then is there no recovery
For the health of the daughter of my people?
Jeremiah 8:18-22 NKJV

People often try to make others think that they 'can feel your pain'. While this seems to usually be a ploy of pretended sympathy, it is clear that Jeremiah suffers for the sake of the nation of Judah and it's people. He sees their future and he hears their cries of distress from their future captivity. He asks, 'Is not the Lord in Zion? Is not her King in her?' Where is God while the people suffer? God answers Jeremiah with a defense. The people have chosen. They decided to rely on false gods, carved images made with their own hands, for their salvation. They have chosen to rely upon themselves and their own strength and ignore the words spoken to them by the Lord through His prophets. They refuse to repent, they refuse to obey He who they claim is their God.
The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. A sad lament of despair. Jeremiah sees that the doom of Judah is sealed, there is no hope. The time when the people would have been able to reap the harvest of faithfulness to God in peace and prosperity are gone. They have wasted the period of time where repentance and a turning of their hearts to serve God would have allowed the nation of Judah to be saved from the armies coming upon them to destroy and enslave. Now winter is setting in, there will be no reprieve from the fate they have chosen for themselves. Jeremiah hurts for them, he mourns for what could have been and is astonished at their path they have chosen.
Jeremiah asks if a means of healing was available to them. Was there not a physician and medicine to heal them? Yes, healing was available to them, God wanted to heal and to save them. God wanted to reach out and turn back the invading enemies and draw His people close to Himself. God wanted to rub the balm of forgiveness on their wounds for their healing, to refresh their spirit with His peace. They refused His healing touch, choosing instead to attempt to heal themselves and to rely on sticks and stones to strengthen them. Why was there no recovery of health for Judah? They had turned their backs on the Physician and refused His medicine.

Lord,
Help me today to allow You to heal my broken life. I am tempted to rely upon myself and elevate people or things to an position of prominence above You. Help me to consider Your love and mercy and saving grace for me each moment of today. Help me to accept Your medicine to mend my wounds and Your Spirit to renew me in Your love. Help me to allow You to use me in whatever small way You think is best to tend to those around me who are hurting and sick. Give me sympathy for my fellow travelers in their distress. Thank You for Your healing hands and Your gift of life.