Lean on Me

As I write I am about to go into hospital to have an operation on my foot – one that will mean I am confined to the house for anything up to a month! As an active person, who loves to be with other people this initially filled me with great trepidation. 

I suppose I am really fortunate – my husband can take some time off to be with me, and being part of a big church community does mean I may get visited from time to time – but there is something distinctly unsettling about being dependent on others for the simple things like cups of coffee and getting to and from the bathroom.

At base we all love our independence and autonomy. We like to feel that no-one else makes decisions for us, and that we are not reliant on other people. And yet....... I am pretty certain there is a real lesson to be learnt in this situation about real Christian living. The impression I get in the Bible is that independence and self-reliance are not key aspects of Christian character.

In different ways God asks us constantly to trust in him and not lean to our own understanding. Sometimes when I pray I think I am probably trying to get God to come round to my own way of thinking – rather than learning to trust him. We also read that the early Church had ‘all things in Common’, and relied very heavily upon each other to survive. No independence there either!

The reality is that for long periods of our lives we are unable to be independent – in childhood and adolescence, in frail old age, at times of severe physical or mental illness – none of us is independent and need to place our trust in others.

In fact, those that I know who are not very able and have to rely on others have the most remarkable Spiritual experiences. They have a real sense of God’s presence with them, and because they have to rely on others they have bee responsible for bringing many closer to Jesus.   When they are weak God is strong!

As we look at what makes Christian character in our sermon series – here is another example of how God turns things upside down. The weak are very strong in him, and we become stronger as we lean more on him.

So perhaps, this period of time will give me that opportunity to appreciate what it means to be wholly dependent on others – on God to whom we entrust ourselves for eternity, on loved ones who have our best interests at heart, and on each other as we seek to live our lives out.