Homesick for Heaven
My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. – Psalm 84:2
The pleading voices of my two youngest daughters poured through the phone lines and brought tears to my eyes as I listened to their heartfelt cries: “Mom, I miss you, please come and get me.” “Mom, I couldn’t get to sleep until three o’clock in the morning. Please, I want to come home!” They were away at camp for the first time. I remember how excited they had been to go just a few days before. Now, they were homesick. I talked firmly but gently with them, encouraging them to stick it out, and told them I would pray for them. I reminded them that they only had three more days until they would be home again. They agreed to stay.
Most of us have experienced being homesick at one time or another. As Christians, we may even at times feel homesick for a place we have never been—our home in Heaven. Because of sin, this world is full of heartbreak and disappointments. We see sadness and suffering every day in the news and in the lives of loved ones. Sometimes our friends or family let us down, and after a while we can become discouraged by it all. Like my young daughters, our hearts cry out, “Lord, I want to come home!” We long for Him to return and take us to a place where sin and its destruction cannot harm us anymore.
Heaven is a place where love reigns. There will be no more pain and no more sorrow. Problems are not allowed to enter. Songs of praise will be sung around God’s throne, and we, as overcoming Christians, will be a part of it all. We will be with the Lord forever, and Scripture says we cannot imagine how wonderful it will be. It is no wonder that our hearts would yearn for our eternal home!
Are you feeling homesick for Heaven? Hold on to God’s hand a little bit longer. It is almost time to go home, but He still has work for us to do before we get there. Watch, pray, and be ready. It will certainly be worth the wait!
