“As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.” (Psalm 42:1–2, NKJV)
What picture would you use to capture the idea of longing? Perhaps you are separated from someone you love by many miles or for several months. Your heart aches for their presence with you. Or, you have been laboring under the scorching heat of the day. Your throat is parched. You yearn for cold, refreshing water to soothe it.
Longing is built in to the Christian life. It is a feature of faith that is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Like having tickets for a trip abroad and brochure pictures that tantalize you, you can’t wait for the day when you are there in person, situated in the realities that await you.
By faith, we long for Jesus. Peter captures our longing in terms of love for Him as the assurance of hope: “[Jesus Christ] having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory” (1 Pet. 1:8). Longing yearns for faith to be sight, hope to be realized, and love to be perfected. It reflects a tension between the already and not yet.
We long for our resurrection bodies. Paul describes our earthly bodies as temporary dwellings and gives us this assurance: “For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven” (2 Cor. 5:1–2). Groaning reflects a holy discontentment driven by the assurance of what is in store for us in Christ. It’s like being unsettled with our moped while our Mercedes is on order.
Our groaning is part of something bigger and greater. In Christ, we are not merely new creatures; we are part of a new creation.
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. …For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.” (Rom. 8:18-19, 22-23)
Though our longing creates dis-ease now, it finds delight and joy and anticipation in the assurance of what is in store for those who love Jesus.
One of Paul’s richest letters of longing is 1 Thessalonians. It is to this letter we turn our attention, not only to see Paul’s personal longings in ways we can relate, but also to be reminded of the longing exerted by the gravitational pull of the Christian hope. In addition, we will take stock of ruinous longings that entice us and threaten us to spiritual shipwreck in our journey through the tumultuous seas of this fallen world.
Let us begin with the benediction of our longing as we make our way toward it. “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it” (1 Thess. 5:23–24).
What part does longing play in the Christian life?
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
