I remember when I was a young man—just a boy, really—I was away from home for what was supposed to be two weeks. I lasted only one. Homesickness gripped me with a force I didn’t understand, an ache that made my stomach turn. I couldn’t shake the feeling; I had to go home. With tears in my eyes, I called my mother, pleading with her to come and get me. She did. And the relief that flooded my soul when I saw her face is something I will never forget.
Now, as my years with Christ accumulate, that same feeling wells up inside me—but for a different home. A greater home. I get homesick for heaven. I long to see Him. I know I no longer belong here, for this world is not my permanent address. The apostle Paul understood this longing when he wrote, “For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven” (2 Corinthians 5:2, NASB). This groaning is not despair—it is a holy homesickness, a deep yearning planted in us by the Spirit of God.
Scripture assures us that this longing is evidence of His work in us. “Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge” (2 Corinthians 5:5, NASB). The Spirit within me whispers that there is something more, something better—a city not built by human hands, but by God Himself. It is the homeland my heart aches for. I should not resist this homesickness but embrace it, for it testifies that I have been made for another place.
B.J. Thomas captures this feeling in song:
“And when I’m feeling lonely,
and when I’m feeling blue,
It’s such a joy to know that I am only passing through.
I’m headed home,
going home,
where I belong.”
Christian, this longing is good. It confirms that we are sons and daughters of God, citizens of a better country. Paul tells us, “And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:23, NASB).
One day, the homesickness will be answered. One day, faith will become sight. And with the apostle John, I cry out in agreement: “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming quickly.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20, NASB).
Amen, Father. Amen.
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