Sweet Reunion: A Longing Fulfilled

Proverbs 13:12 Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.

It is almost over. The season of waiting is nearly complete. Hope is rising and excitement is mounting. My heart, though faint at times, is gaining strength knowing the reunion will be all sweetness and joy. My son is coming home. Married in Berlin just over four years ago, he and his beautiful German wife are returning to Australia to live. No more face time. No more time differences and no more missing out on family celebrations together. Hope of something good does indeed make the heart yearn with anticipation and longing, but when the moment our deepest desire comes, it brings life-giving sweetness to our soul.

We can all identify with those times in our lives when we have grown weak waiting for our deepest desires to come to fruition. And there are countless examples from the Scriptures of those who waited. A prodigal son’s father waited day after day for his son to return. A mother waited for her infant to be born that would fulfill ancient prophecies. A man labored long and hard building a boat on dry land and waited for the expected rains to fall. A people were relentlessly driven to build bricks under the burning Egyptian sun to satisfy the unreasonable demands of a power-hungry Pharaoh. These and many, many more waited while their hearts grew sick for a longing to be fulfilled.

There is however, for Christ’s followers, one longing that we are in unison waiting for: the return of our LORD. And as we wait, as we seek to live each day in a way that is pleasing to Him in a world that does not seek to please Him, our longing ought to be growing. Stronger and stronger.

Revelation 22:12, 20 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. Surely, I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus.

The book of Revelation ends on an optimistic and promising note of expectation that Christ will be returning very soon. Christians worldwide unite with this very hope that the Lord Jesus will come again in glory to complete the work of salvation He has begun in all believers. Christ has promised this and that is settled in the courtroom of Heaven.

Is your desire and longing to see the Savior return gathering momentum? Does your heart grow sick the desire for this very thing? Can you anticipate with yearning the grace that will belong to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ?

1 Peter 1:13-15 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

So, in our longing for what is to come, Paul gives us clear instructions that will help us last the distance. We are to gird up the loins of our mind or prepare our hearts for action (ESV). Literally that means fasten your seat belts or roll up your sleeves and embrace each day with an expectation of God’s ongoing goodness, provision and strength. Step into the day with a spirit of thankfulness and seek to stay close to Jesus, living set apart from the world lives, with holiness and a godly fear and reverence for the LORD.

Our hope is set fully not on this world, but on the grace that will be ours as we prepare ourselves for vigorous and sustained spiritual exertion that brings glory to God. Whatever we may be going through today, let us keep in mind the words of Paul in Romans 8:18, ‘For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.’ And so we long for this: His glory to be revealed in us. O joyous day!

Perhaps it’s time to do a heart assessment. To ask ourselves what we are ultimately longing for? Are our longings limited to the immediate things of this world, or under girding these temporal longings, do we yearn for the return of Christ? This is a glorious longing that all Christians need to be praying for and thirsting after. Let’s earnestly desire what is the greatest event of all time: the glorious return of Christ. The season of waiting is almost over.

Come, Lord Jesus!

‘Lord stir me to holy longings. As I wait for Your return I would long for nothing but You, nothing but your will and nothing but true holiness. Lord communion with You is sweetness to my soul. How much more when I see you face to face? Help me to live each day in light of that great day, waiting patiently and expectantly for Your glorious return.’