Stability Even While Life Moves

So, we’re TCK’s… right? We think like TCK’s, talk like TCK’s and maybe even eat like TCK’s. But what does it really mean to be a TCK? As there are definitely multiple aspects to what this looks like, there is one thing in particular I want to talk about. Before I begin, I would like to highlight that the term Third Culture Kid is very broad and thus the manifestation of characteristics often associated with this term is different for everyone. So, if you cannot resonate with what I say, that’s okay. What I share here may even be relatable for non-TCK people as well! 

This summer, I was at a conference, and one of the speakers said: “As a Third Culture Kid, we have moved a lot and therefore are able to adapt easily”. While I pondered this statement, I thought back to all moving I had done, all the hello’s and goodbye’s and all friends I had made. As I continued to look at my life, I truly realized how much “change” was symbolically present throughout it. My train of thought didn’t stop there though, as I kept on examining my life, trying to find anything that was truly constant, that could not be altered by time nor anything else. That only thing that cannot be changed is God.

As a Christian, life will always change, and be hard (Romans 5:3-5, James 1:2-4 & Philippians 4:12-13), but we can always look to God to be our good shepherd. Let us look at Psalm 23. Here, David writes about a God who is caring, who provides to the point that the sheep doesn’t need (v. 2); who protects to the point that you can be safe and still in front of your enemies, feasting (v. 5). This God has chosen us to be with him forever (v. 6). 

To look even further into God’s character, let’s read Hebrews 13:8 (ESV), “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Here the author is saying that this good shepherd is unmovable, he was the same yesterday, was the same today and will be the same tomorrow. 

Although this sounds all great, it is not always easy to trust God. At another meeting, I was listening to Pastor David* who was telling the congregation about his first experience as a Christian. He said that new believers were assigned to an older believer after they were baptised, in order to have a mentor. So the speaker’s mentor calls him and tells him to meet him at his house at 5:30 a.m. Upon arrival Mr. David was instructed to be seated in a completely dark room, and to not speak. He couldn’t see anything and so wondered what was going on. This went on for 30 minutes until the mentor finally came back and broke the silence by explaining that this is what it meant to be a Christian. Sometimes you wait, even though it doesn’t feel like God is there. Yet, Psalm 46:10 reads that we must be still… Be still and just trust God.

In conclusion, in times of change, we must look to the never-changing character of God to guide us as he provides and protects us, even though sometimes we do not feel his presence.

*name was changed to keep discretion of the person mentioned