My Idol of Comfort

I love my comfort.

My easy commute from the bedroom to my home office. My food in the pantry and fridge. My easy chair. My hot showers. My schedule. My car. Myself in the driver’s seat.

That last one speaks to my overall need for control. I like to know what is happening, when it is happening and what is expected from me when ‘it’ does happen. This provides immense comfort.

My husband’s workplace provided an opportunity to forgo all of the above in an effort to serve other people in Peru. I did not want to go at first. But, the more I realized I had an idol of comfort, the more I understood that the Lord wanted me to go. I needed to lay down my idol.

It has been several years since I have traveled by plane and several more since I had been outside the country. But again, I needed to go.

Tim and I traveled with 7 others to Pucallpa, Peru. I knew some of the group but not all. Someone else made the travel arrangements. Overnight travel in a sardine can. We flew into Lima first. There must have been a million people in that airport. It was quite chaotic.

The flight to Pucallpa was uneventful and we disembarked on the tarmac. It was hot and humid. Not Alabama humidity – but jungle humidity. Our hosts met us and we traveled by car to our home away from home.

Traffic was nuts! Most drove motorkars which is a motorcycle with a cart on the back. There were regular motorcycles too dodging in and out of the lanes. Stop signs were suggestions. And there were people and street dogs everywhere.

We drove into a gated area that reminded me of summer camp. There were a few homes, a work shop, the laundry, dining hall and dormitories. We shared the upstairs accommodations with another couple. We were on the lake and it was beautiful. At least one tarantula had a home nearby.

On Sunday, we walked down a few blocks of dirt streets to a community church. Fewer people were seen on Sunday morning but there were plenty of street dogs. Everyone was quite friendly with wonderful smiles. I recognized the first song we sang (Open the Eyes of my Heart, Lord.)

That’s when it hit me. God is big. We were thousands of miles from Alabama. Different people. Different language. Different habits. Different food. Different life. Same God.

I didn’t always understand the language. I couldn’t hear the interpreter to understand the message. But we were reading from the same scriptures and worshipping the same God.

God is big.

And that provided a comfort to me unlike any other. Thank you, Lord, for opening the eyes of my heart. You are so very loving.