The Joy of Longing

posted by Navigators on June 24th, 2026 in Evangelism | Jesus | Joy

By Laine Roberts, Canberra Labouring Community.

I hate goodbyes. Teary goodbyes at airports are even worse, especially when you don’t know when you’ll see each other again. This has been a consistent part of my life since moving overseas. The grief of saying goodbye and walking in opposite directions that will only take you farther apart doesn’t ever seem to get easier. And yet, even after walking away, the relationship continues, often with a text sent just from the other side of the security gate.

Thanks to the age of technology we live in, I can still talk with my loved ones on Facetime in the same way we would if they were across the table from me. Though it is incomplete, there is still joy to be found in relationship and in knowing them now.

I have grown to appreciate the ways that it reflects the now-but-not-yet nature of our relationship with Jesus. We are meant to be with Him fully, but we are not yet. As we wait though, there is still so much joy to be found in the relationship we get to have with Him now. Though I cannot Facetime Jesus, I have continual access to Him that creates ongoing relationship through prayer and scripture.

Laine (back row, left) with family coming to visit, as she continues to serve with our Canberra Labouring Community.

In moments of missing loved ones and counting the days till I see them again, I am reminded that those feelings ultimately point me to my deepest longing which is to be with Jesus. At the same time, that grief is always worth it for the joy of seeing new children be born to God.

Before going overseas, my prayer was to get to see at least one person come to faith. As I settled into life here and made some non-believing friends on campus, I saw that my deepest longing was for one particular friend to know Jesus within my time here. God powerfully moved in her heart, and I had the great joy of seeing her be baptised last semester.

I know that when I look back on my first two years overseas, that joy is what I will remember. And though at times the grief was heavy, I know that my joy for seeing my loved ones will be greater, and that will reflect only an ounce of the joy I will have when I finally see Jesus.

‘You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.’ John 16:20–22 NIV.

Laine is one of our International Apprentices labouring with the Swartzentrubers in Canberra. This article first appeared in the Winter 2026 issue of Compass.

_{Featured image of woman travelling by Miraxh Tereziu on Unsplash.}