Travelling by train to London for college has its advantages. I have time to have a coffee and eat breakfast. I can relax and rest my eyes, read and I can have my quiet time – read the Bible and my daily Bible notes and pray.  My fellow passengers take the opportunity to work or perhaps watch catch up TV on Iplayer or catch up on some sleep. One morning recently the gentleman sitting next to me was listening to music and dozed off to sleep. On a couple of occasions he started to lean towards me and his head came close to leaning on my shoulder but each time he sub-consciously stopped himself from doing so. I guess he didn’t want to invade my space and was trying to be considerate. This amused me and got me thinking and the lyrics to the song, Lean on me by Bill Withers came to mind: Lean on me when you’re not strong, I’ll be your friend, I’ll help you carry on… Sometimes when things are difficult for us in our lives we all need someone to lean on – a friend who helps us to carry on. In Proverbs 3:5 it says: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Sometimes we forget to trust the Lord and instead lean on our own understanding. We forget that we can always lean on our special friend, Jesus to support us. We can lean on him in all circumstances. Because He loves us, He doesn’t mind if we fall asleep, invade His personal space or lean on His shoulder.
This month, we celebrate the Day of Pentecost, when Jesus’ 12 disciples were anointed with the Holy Spirit, the promised comforter, and empowered by the Holy Spirit, Peter preached the good news of Jesus and many people gave their lives to Christ that day. (Acts 2). As 21st century believers, Jesus lives in us through his Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit helps us to carry on – to live our lives bringing comfort and strength. We can lean on the Holy Spirit in prayer and this helps us overcome the obstacles we are facing, making our life journey though life a little easier to bear.
As brothers and sisters in Christ we can lean on and support each other too. We continue to hold those in the church family in prayer, whose lives are especially difficult at the moment. We pray that they may know God’ s special touch of healing in the days and weeks to come.
Blessings and love,
Robert