Longing to See You

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Having recently completed a series on 1 Timothy on Sunday evenings, Ray has begun a new series on 2 Timothy. Timothy had a faithful mother, a faithful grandmother, and a father who was an unbeliever. Paul and Timothy had a deep relationship that was like a father and a son. I love how emotionally Paul wrote to the young man he called “my beloved son.” He tells Timothy:

I thank God,
whom I serve with a clear conscience
the way my forefathers did,
as I constantly remember you
in my prayers night and day,
longing to see you,
even as I recall your tears,
so that I may be filled with joy.
2 Timothy 1:3-4

Any loving parent whose child is far away knows how Paul felt. They know that feeling of longing, that hunger to be together again.

Paul traveled widely and knew many Christians scattered around the Roman empire. He loved his fellow believers. In addition to longing for Timothy, he longed for others, too. Paul even longed to be with fellow believers he had not yet met, as he wrote to Christians in Rome.

. . . I have had for many years a longing to come to you . . . 
Romans 15:22b

Paul’s fellow believers longed for him, too, and he appreciated them for it. He also deeply appreciated those who visited  him and those who sent others to see him.

But God, who comforts the depressed,
comforted us by the coming of Titus;
and not only by his coming,
but also by the comfort with which he was comforted in you,
as he reported to us your longing,
your mourning, your zeal for me;
so that I rejoiced even more.
2 Corinthians 7:6-7

Paul found comfort in knowing when these feelings of longing were mutual.

But now that Timothy has come to us from you,
and has brought us good news of your faith and love,
and that you always think kindly of us,
longing to see us just as we also long to see you,
for this reason, brethren, in all our distress and affliction
we were comforted about you through your faith;
for now we really live,
if you stand firm in the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 3:6-8

Paul cared about the feelings of longing that others experienced.

But I thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus,
my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier,
who is also your messenger and minister to my need; 
because he was longing for you all
and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick. 
For indeed he was sick to the point of death,
but God had mercy on him,
and not on him only but also on me,
so that I would not have sorrow upon sorrow. 
Therefore I have sent him all the more eagerly
so that when you see him again
you may rejoice and I may be less concerned about you. 
Philippians 2:25-28

When I searched for an image to illustrate “Longing to See You,” I found Lady in White (No. 1) by Thomas Wilmer Dewing (1851-1938).

She illustrates longing pretty well. So would an elderly lady in a nursing home whose children rarely come or a little boy hoping his non-custodial parent won’t be late this time or . . . We can think of many scenarios.

Paul understood longing and he was willing to express it openly. Let’s all try to think about who might be longing for us. It is a very biblical feeling. Meeting the longings of others is a very biblical thing to do. Perhaps the very best longing is mutual longing, such as Paul and the Thessalonians had for one another, as described in 1 Thessalonians 3:6:

. . . longing to see us just as we also long to see you . . .
1 Thessalonians 3:6

 

 

 

 

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