When you hear the word “home”, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Is it the physical location where you live, or perhaps your country of origin? Is it your apartment, flat, or house? Or is it rather the place where you have spent a significant part of your life? These are all true to a certain degree; however, the idea of home transcends that which is merely physical.
The truth is that the term “home” isn’t easy to define; you just happen to know it when you are there. But to briefly capture its essence, home is a place where one is known, welcomed, seen, loved, understood and cherished. It is a place of shelter, of comfort, of refuge—a safe place. A place where you can drop the act and truly be yourself, 24/7, and still get accepted. A place where you can be you without fear of judgement. In short, it is a place where one feels he or she belongs.
Of course, the latter definition reflects what an ideal home should look like. However, the reality is that the brokenness all around us—caused by sin—has crept into our homes, resulting in conflict, discord, separation, disagreement, abuse, hatred, neglect, and rejection. As a result, our homes can sometimes feel more like battlefields than shelters, leaving many people feeling as though they do not belong anywhere or have a place to call “home”.
Jesus, who came down to us, understands this brokenness because He experienced it firsthand. However, the night before He was betrayed and later crucified, He offered His followers words of comfort and reassurance. One of these passages reads:
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” - John 14:1-3.
What is this place that He has gone to prepare for us? And why does—and should—this promise give us hope amidst all the brokenness and disappointments that we face in this current age?
A longing for home
Have you ever been far away from home, even just for a little while? Then you must be familiar with the term “Homesickness” which is known to be a form of emotional distress caused by being away from home, a familiar environment or loved ones.
This can be sometimes coupled with nostalgia, where one thinks about all the fun things he or she did at home with parents or siblings or with friends and there is that longing which voices itself as: “Oh take me back!”
I just recently spent a couple of days in Austria for a friend’s wedding, after which I spent a week at home and headed to a christian camp in Germany for a week (Teenstreet!). Both of these were amazing and refreshing experiences. Nevertheless, I would be lying if I said that part of me didn’t miss being in the comfort of my home—especially laying in my bed and going about my usual routines. This is all to say that no matter how amazing or refreshing an experience or place can be, there truly is no place like home!
Now, I am not here to talk about the homesickness that I experienced while being away from home. Rather, I am here to talk about the same feeling—only more deeper than usual—that I experienced despite being right there at home, with my family. It was not the first time that I had experienced such a feeling, but this time, the emotion was much stronger. This was what prompted me to look more into it and eventually led me to write this article.
This struck me as strange, because surely I could not be homesick if I was already home. I then found myself wrestling with the following questions: “How can I be homesick at home?” and “How can I feel such a deep sense of nostalgia for a place I have never been to?”
After a time of research and meditation, I then came to the conclusion that if we can be homesick even while at home, that would only mean that our earthly homes—as wonderful as they can be—are but only a faint glimpse of something far better that awaits us: that is our heavenly home, which Christ is preparing for us.
This world is not our home
You see, we are not at home, not yet. So no matter how comfortable you try to make yourself here on earth, deep down you and I have a God-given awareness that there is “something more” than this transient world.
In fact, we all possess a void that could not be filled even if one were to acquire the whole world for himself. Therefore with such an awareness of eternity, comes then a hope that this longing can one day be fulfilled. That is what Ecclesiastes 3:11 speaks about when it says that “God has set eternity in the human heart”—a truth that is as true for believers as unbelievers.
Our homesickness for Heaven is something that a great many aren’t aware of. Because of this, we try to cure or satisfy this longing with things like: human approval, sex, wealth, status, fame, a great career, a spouse, drugs—you name it. But what we really need is the person we were made for: Jesus, and the place we were made for: Heaven. Indeed, nothing less can satisfy us.
C.S. Lewis said it better:
“Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well, there is such a thing as water. Men feel sexual desire: well, there is such a thing as sex. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing.” — C.S. Lewis - Mere Christianity.
Indeed our souls can’t settle for less.
All we have at the moment are but glimpses pointing to the real thing. They are enough to keep us going and to keep us hoping, but never enough to fully satisfy us. And so, we are left in eager anticipation of that which is to come.
It is like a guest invited to a wedding banquet. As he sits at the reception, he catches just a whiff of the scrumptious meal being prepared in the kitchen by the world’s best chefs. The aroma is enough to whet his appetite and fill him with anticipation, knowing that his hunger will soon be satisfied once the meal is served.
Abraham looked forward to this place; a place whose architect and builder is God Himself (Hebrews 11:8-10). David too, in the Psalms, expressed his longing to dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of his life (Psalm 27:4). And Paul also talks about us—believers—“groaning inwardly” as we eagerly await this coming time (Romans 8:23 see also 2 Cor 5:8).
But until then, this longing will accompany us throughout our lives, and there is nothing we can do about it—at least, nothing that can provide a permanent fix.
There are many rooms
But the good news, my friend, is that Jesus said and I quote: “My Father’s house has many rooms…” (John 14:2), meaning that there is enough space for everyone. He also said: “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:3). This means that it is a place where we are expected—a place where we are wanted and welcomed.
You see Jesus longs to be with his people, and is preparing a place for you (yes you!) in heaven—His Father’s house (if you didn’t figure it out yet).
And you see, one of the things that we don’t do much these days is talk about heaven—not just as our final destination as believers, but also as the perfect, sweet, loving home that we all long for. It is unlike anything that we have ever known or experienced, better than anything the best of minds put together could ever imagine, or the most creative of minds could ever paint. Now, think about the best experiences of your life. As wonderful as they may have been, they don’t hold a candle for the joy that is coming our way.
And unlike our imperfect broken homes, this will be a home where they’ll be no more sin, pain, conflict, discord, brokenness, crying, suffering, separation, trouble, fear, or worry—in fact nothing negative that exists in our present experience of home. Instead it will be a place of perfect love, joy, peace; a place beyond our wildest dreams (Revelation 21:4). Teenstreet this year, once again, gave me a glimpse of this will look like.
Because we, as believers, talk so vaguely about heaven, we have in turn, dimmed our overall excitement and longing for this heavenly dwelling.
However, we see Jesus throughout the Gospels continually speaking about the Kingdom of God and expressing His anticipation of it. Indeed, for the joy that was set before Him, He—God Himself—endured all that suffering and ultimately the cross so that we might one day dwell in His house forever (Hebrews 12:2).
He was rejected, despised, mocked, hated, abused, and ill-treated so that we could be loved, chosen, seen, and cared for. He made Himself homeless so that countless people who believe and put their faith and trust in Him would one day be welcomed into their heavenly home. (“Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” — Matthew 8:20).
So if you are in Christ, do not let your heart be troubled, dear friend, for He has gone to prepare a place for you and will come back in just a little while to take you, along with all His people to dwell with Him, in heaven, forever.
But If you have not yet received Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, there is room for you in heaven too. Will you accept His invitation?
I recently came across a hymn that really does cover this whole topic that has been mentioned in this article, do give it a listen: Sweet Beulah Land - Praise and Harmony
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