Not Alone

Sending postcards from holidays abroad is not as popular as it once was, but it is always a pleasure to receive cards from friends and to know, wherever they are, that they arrived safely and are well.

‘Ring or text me when you get there,’ is a common request when a friend leaves us after a visit, or when a son or daughter is travelling alone. We need to know that all is well with their lives when they leave us; we miss them when they have left.

Jesus left his companions when he ascended to heaven. The Bible tells us that they returned to Jerusalem with great joy because they believed his promises (Luke 24:50–53), though they must have missed the physical presence of their friend and Lord.

Jesus didn’t promise to ring or send a postcard. Instead he promised to send them a Comforter, a guide and an inner strength in the person of the Holy Spirit: ‘I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you for ever—the Spirit of truth’ (John 14:16). They had to wait a little while, but what joy they experienced when the Holy Spirit came to them (Acts 2:1–11). Then they knew that what Jesus had said—‘On that day you will realise that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you’—was true, that he was now with his Father and that they would never be alone. And neither will we.

Prayer: Loving Lord, thank you for sending the Holy Spirit to be our Comforter and guide. Help us to be aware of the Spirit’s guidance each day. Amen