Eagerly Waiting

Many years ago (decades), I wrote a poem entitled, “Every Day: Christmas.” * 

My point was that we call the time of Jesus’ birth “Christmas.” So, whenever someone is born again, that day is like their own personal Christmas. Jesus is born in them. A miracle – the greatest miracle of all!

On the Back End of Life

So today (July 30, 2021), as I was walking, I had a similar thought about another major life transition.

I was remembering that on my 35^th birthday, I prayed for God to heal my mother. She had been fighting bone marrow cancer for over two years, and it is a painful disease.

That morning, I prayed something along the lines of, “Lord, You certainly don’t need to give me a birthday present. You’ve already done so much for me. But if You choose to, would You please heal my mother for my birthday?”

That evening, the Lord swooped down and scooped Mother up out of a coma. He took her Home. The perfect healing!

On my walk today, the thought occurred to me: “That was kind of like her own personal rapture.”

Yearning to Go

I was close to three loved ones during the last years of their lives – my mother, my father, and my aunt. All of them had health problems, and all of them longed to move on to the next stage in their life’s journey.

After Mother died, I heard that she had discussed the subject of suicide with my brother. Daddy didn’t understand why he couldn’t die: “Oh me, oh my, why can’t I die?” he sometimes mourned. Aunt Polly wondered if God was mad at her. In fact, she was a little bit mad at Him because He wouldn’t come for her and release her from a weak, sometimes painful body.

All three of them longed for their own, personal “rapture” into Glory.

Aging Planet 

Like our bodies, our world is aging. And like our bodies, aging is not making it better!

The United States has enjoyed freedom so long that we often forget how many millions of people in our world live under persecution and hardship. They can’t run to a neighborhood store when they’re out of detergent or call for a pizza when they’re too tired to cook. They may not even have running water in their homes. And they’re trapped in their poverty and desperation by the oppressors who rule their nations.

In many countries, life on planet Earth is anything but paradise. I wonder how many of them, like our elderly relatives, are yearning for a better world.

And in the United States

As for my country, evil forces have been at work in the U.S. for decades, determined to destroy the freedom and prosperity available to us most of our lives. One of their first attacks was on our most helpless, most precious citizens: preborn babies. Abortion became the law of the land. Then subtle monsters slowly infiltrated government, education, business, the media, and even some churches. As a result, many well-meaning citizens now believe evil is good and good is evil!

As in the days of Israel’s judges, too many contemporary Americans want to do that which is right in his or her own eyes. That’s a recipe for disaster: “You think it’s okay to kill babies? Well, maybe I think it’s okay to kill you.”

An extreme example, but it’s perfectly logical.

Modern America is teeming with symptoms of the rottenness at its core. A pandemic creates terror and destroys the economy. Violence in the streets proliferates. Honorable police personnel suffer disrespect and financial shortage. Entertainment sinks deeper and deeper into the sewer. Homes disintegrate, leaving lonely, damaged children. Schools abandon meaningful instruction in favor of useless philosophy. 

Outrageously, a few powerful politicians are patting themselves on the back because these outcomes represent progress toward achieving their evil agenda.

Anybody else out there looking for a better world?

Global Rapture

Okay, here’s the good news. Finally! When Jesus ascended into Heaven, He didn’t abandon us. He went to prepare a place for us. And…

He’s coming back to get us! (John 14:2-3)

Anyone who has read the Biblical book of Revelation knows a time is coming that will make today’s world look like Disneyland. It’s a seven-year period, known as the “great tribulation.” It will be the most terrifying, agonizing time in the history of this planet.

However, the Lord Jesus Christ considers His church His bride. Many of us believe He’s coming back for us before the great tribulation. Just as the Lord swooped down and scooped my mother out of her ravaged body, I believe Jesus will swoop down for His church and scoop us out of this ragged world before He unleashes the forces that will launch those frightful days.

That great swoop and scoop is what we call “the rapture.” The rapture will be the Great Escape. You don’t want to miss it because the great tribulation will be hell on Earth.

Come Quickly, Lord Jesus

As the world seems to decay and crumble around us, it’s time to heed the Bible’s admonition to look up…for our redemption is drawing nigh. (Luke 21:28) Maybe Jesus won’t appear in our lifetime. But maybe He will!

Almost every bride grows more and more excited as her wedding day approaches. We, the church, are a bride. Our Bridegroom cometh. I can’t wait to see Him!

“…Christ…will appear a second time…to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” Hebrews 9:28, ESV

***

* The poem, “Every Day: Christmas,” appears in the last chapter of my recently published book, Lilli’s Song. Also, the rapture of the church is one of the themes of the book.

End note: Some Christians say they don’t believe in the rapture because it’s not in the Bible. Two comments: 1) The word “Trinity” is not in the Bible, but I don’t believe I ever met a Christian who didn’t believe that our God is a Trinity. 2) The word rapture may not be in the Bible in English, but in the Latin translation of I Thessalonians 4:17, “caught up” is rapturo, ** which is one reason this doctrine became known as the “rapture.” (Notice that it is the Latin translation, not the Greek.)

Here’s a short discussion about the term “rapture” from Bible.org. “Where did the term ‘rapture’ come from?“

Photo credit: StockSnap on Pixabay