A couple of months ago we took in a little kitten from our street that had been abandoned by its mother. She was still quite young and at first needed to be fed milk from a dropper. Almost immediately, she started a habit that seemed a little strange and funny to us. Whenever she was hungry or needed comfort, she found a carpet, nestled in, and started sucking the carpet fibers. I always felt sorry for her when she did this. Knowing that she was yearning for her mother’s milk and security, she was getting nothing, yet she was comforted in a false sort of way.

I started thinking about the things we find our comfort in that are void of the real comfort that we truly crave….the comfort from the Living God who gives Living Water for our souls. Since moving to Indonesia I have found myself in many situations where I felt like I needed something or someone to make me feel better. Many of the things that I was tempted to take comfort in back in my home country, however, are not a reality here. Things like familiar food, shopping, meeting a good friend at a coffee shop, getting away for a weekend for a change of scenery, going to a movie, sitting in an English church service (and so many more), seem like they’re from another world now. Though I can always seek out other things in which to find comfort, being removed from the familiarity of home has made it easier to choose to find my comfort in Jesus. And how much deeper and more fulfilling that comfort can be!

God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort.” —2 Corinthians 1:3 (NLV)