Jesus on the Subway – I Am Not Alone

Is it not great to know that we are not alone? That God is ever present with us. When days are good when days are bad “He will never leave nor forsake” us. When we do something right or fail and do something wrong. He still stays right beside us. When we feel great sadness or tremendous joy. He is always near. Always there to help us, pat us on the back, correct us, pick us up. What a Father. He is absolutely for us.

I was thinking this morning about 2001 when God called my family and I to move to New York City. I will never forget the first week for many reasons. One night I was sitting on the subway alone. I had been in NYC many times but it was a very different feeling to be living in such a crowded, expensive, cold, intense place.

The subway train was jammed packed full of people and I had about a 45 minute ride ahead of me. When I say packed it is way beyond the definition of packed in other parts of the United States. You could not move. It was suffocating. This is not an uncommon scenario. NYC has a population density of about 26,403 people per square mile with the borough of Manhattan at about 66,000. To put that in perspective the second most dense city in the United States is San Francisco at 10,000 per square mile. Let’s just say it is crowded.

As I sat there I was very overwhelmed by my surroundings. Felt like the city was just going to swallow me up. I felt very alone. But I was not. As the train rumbled down the tracks through that dark tunnel I began to sense Jesus right beside me. I can’t really describe it but I knew He on that train. He was standing right there with me in the middle of that crowded dirty subway train. I can’t tell you with words what it meant to know I was not alone. To this day it still brings tears to my eyes when I think about it. God is ever present with His people.

Maybe you are overwhelmed and alone. Maybe facing a circumstance so heavy you are not sure where to turn. Know this today. You are not alone. Jesus stands with you. He is there to help you.

The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Deuteronomy 31:8