Limbo. We’ve all been there, and it’s tough. Waiting is excruciating when you don’t see change or any possible solution. At these times, how do you stay in the place of hope? And which longings are worth hoping will be fulfilled?  

Just over a year ago, my family left Ukraine, our home of seventeen years. We evacuated to Budapest with several other families who had become dear friends. Together we had navigated the many ups and downs of cross-cultural life, including this last heartbreak, which turned into devastation when Russian bombs began falling across Ukraine. 

Adding to the loss, a few months later, we moved permanently back to the States, but most of them stayed in Hungary. And this was just a subset of the scattering that happened, with millions leaving their homes—mostly moms and their kids. (At least our families were whole.) But the grief and sadness made it hard for us to move on.

At Christmastime, we went back to visit and found them also living in limbo. With one foot still firmly in Ukraine and the other barely resting temporarily in Hungary, they are understandably hesitant to put down any roots there—who wants another place to miss when you’re already homesick? They haven’t lost hope, but it is definitely deferred. And they aren’t alone…millions of refugees are longing for the day when it will be safe to go home, when things will be put right and life will be restored to the way it was meant to be. 

This is a real-life example of what it’s like to live in this broken world, waiting expectantly for God’s kingdom to come, for His redemption of all things, and for Him to have the final word. It will happen, but I really want it to happen in my timeframe because I think I know better. This brings heartsickness. But it isn’t inevitable—even in the discomfort of waiting and wondering, we can experience joy. He wants to redeem our longings, conforming them to His own, which makes their fulfillment even better—truly a tree of life.