i will grow you & feed you there.: comfort

this week, i've been sick & it's got me thinking about comfort. if you've ever been away from home or an unfamiliar place while sick, you know how it feels to be in discomfort while in an uncomfortable place. when all the remedies you usually use to get better aren't available or accessible. to be uncomfortable in a place you've yet to feel completely at home in (not a bad thing, just the reality).

what gives you comfort? what makes you feel at home? what causes you to smile with delight or sigh with relief? i found this word, "gezelligheid," which is a dutch (no, i don't know dutch) abstract noun, depending on context, can be translated as convivial, cozy, fun, quaint, or nice atmosphere, but can also mean belonging, time spent with loved ones, the fact of seeing a friend after a long absence, or general togetherness. such a great word! not really sure how to pronounce it but i like it. what is your gezelligheid?

for me, it's... a cup of delicious coffee/tea, a big bowl of spaghetti, jamming to some great music, laughing with someone who truly knows & loves me, cuddling up in a blanket with a great book, having dinner with my family around the table, times of worship, and falling on my knees to pray.

those last two strike/surprise me. i don't know if those would have been on my list of top comforts a year ago yet these two have crept in over the last few years to be a true sources of comfort for me. where do we find our truest comfort? is it in things? is it in people? is the answer ever prayer, the bible, or God? should it be? comfort is defined as a state of physical ease/freedom from pain or constraint or consolation for grief or anxiety. where do we find ease or freedom? what causes us to feel free or at ease? in whom do we find this freedom & ease?

the psalms are littered with words of comfort. psalm 23, a classic, paints a beautiful picture of comfort with a pasture, paths of righteousness, quiet waters, & His rod & staff. psalm 147 speaks of the Lord binding the brokenhearted. psalm 46 speaks of God being our refuge & strength, an ever-present help in trouble. psalm 73 says that God is the strength of our hearts & our portion forever.

2 thessalonians 2:16-17 says, now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, & God our Father, who loved us & gave us eternal comfort & good hope through grace, comfort your hearts & establish them in every good work & word. there is a sense of encouragement here. a genuine sense of the triune God cheering us up/on.

i really like what 2 corinthians 1:3-4 says, "blessed be the God & Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies & God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God." how great are the words, "God of all comfort." such reassuring & frankly, comforting words! no matter where in the world we find ourselves or whatever situation, the Lord is there to comfort us. whether we're sick, healthy, old, young, broken, optimistic, mourning, homesick, away from loved ones, in our favorite place, He's there to comfort us. He wants to be & is our comfort. we are to comfort others with that same comfort. the comfort that comes from Him is fed through us to others. we are to be comforted by Him to comfort others! He meets us in our afflictions to bring freedom & ease. may we rest in that comfort.

i'm continuing to find my way in this still slightly uncomfortable/unfamiliar city. here are a few pictures of the places i've been recently; places where i have found comfort in simply discovering their history & beauty.