“Being a TCK has taught me, more than anything else, to look forward to my eternal home in heaven,” an ATCK told me recently.
That got me thinking. Perhaps TCKs have a better understanding of what it means to long for heaven. As TCKs, we experience a lot of things that cause hurt in this life. At the same time, those experiences can point us to eternal promises.
An Eternal Home
Hebrews 13:14 says that as Christians, “we have no lasting city [here], but we seek the city that is to come” (ESV).
I believe it is possible that TCKs can understand this truth better than other people. TCKs know what it means to feel homeless. TCKs know what it means to move. TCKs know what it means to have no lasting city.
This feeling of homelessness is the problem we face in this life here on earth. Fortunately, the verse that I mentioned above doesn’t end there.
Friend, it doesn’t end with today’s pain. It ends with tomorrow’s promise. One day, we will be in that lasting city.*
No Painful Goodbyes
In a way, this goes hand-in-hand with the first point. In heaven, we will not only feel 100% at home and 100% secure, but we will also not have to ever again say a sad goodbye.
It’s when I say “goodbye” to someone who is going to fly back across the ocean that I get really homesick for heaven.
In heaven, there will be no more painful goodbyes. No more worrying that this might be the last time you will see someone. No more oceans between friends.
A few weeks ago, I was hugging someone who was about to board a flight. “Until we meet again,” she said. I nodded. “If not on this earth, then in heaven.”
TCKs understand the pain of saying goodbye. Therefore, TCKs can cherish the promise of “no sad goodbyes” all the more.
A Never-Changing God
What makes heaven – the coming city – most amazing is that we will be in the presence of our Maker, our Saviour, our King, and our God. We will be in the presence of Jesus.
In this changing world that we live in, in the disruptions and in the uncertainty, we can look forward to this all the more. Jesus is the one who never changes. Unlike people who may be our friends one day and turn their backs on us the next, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8, ESV).
The beautiful thing is that this promise is one that we can experience today as well as tomorrow. These promises for tomorrow can start today.
It Starts Today
We don’t have to mentally stop with the first half of Hebrews 13:14, which says that we don’t have a lasting home here on earth. We don’t have to stop with our eyes fixed on the troubles, the pain, and the difficulties. Instead, we can use these difficulties to point us to a brighter future, which, in many ways, will be opposite to life here on earth.
All of this can give us “strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow.”**
The special thing is that although these truths point us to tomorrow, they do not start tomorrow. Rulers of this world have used and misused religion to promise a better tomorrow as a means to make their subjects forget the injustice of today. In contrast to this, the Bible gives us promises that are not limited to the life to come. These promises can and should change how we live today, especially in how we view our present problems.
We can feel at home with Jesus, knowing that one day we will be in His presence forever. We can say our “goodbyes” to other believers with the words “until we meet again,” for we will. And most importantly, in the constant change of today, we can look to our unchanging God, who will never leave us nor forsake us.
Instead of dwelling on the problems of today, let’s see them as promises for tomorrow. A tomorrow in which all tears will be wiped from our eyes, all pain will be gone, and we will stand before Jesus.
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
*Footnote: How can I know that I will get to heaven?
**Footnote: Great is Thy Faithfulness
TCKs for Christ: Writer & Email Manager
Sarah Susanna Rhomberg
is an MCK from Europe who is fluent in both English and German. She has cried many tears over the question of home, mother tongue, and identity, and wants to use these experiences to encourage others. Aside from writing, she loves reading, butterflies, and sunsets. Sarah wants to live her life for Christ and writes to glorify Him. You can connect with her at Truth & Hope.
