Are We There Yet?

 The million dollar question these days seems to be: How much will the Church see before we are raptured out of here? There is so much projected on the Horizon, one is left wondering….would the Lord allow the church to go through that? 

Food shortages, EMP attacks, Foreign Invasion, Hyperinflation, Increased Persecution, etc. All these and much more have people wondering how close the Rapture is. Many believe it is not God’s will for the church to see any crisis before the Rapture. However, the promises in the Bible are that the church escapes the Tribulation (God’s wrath), not little tribulations! We are in the beginnings of sorrows and have been! 2020 is when the world stage really started to shift and things began to progress quicker! 

So, everyone wants to know, when Lord? (Including me). However, I believe we glorify the Lord more when we DON’T know exactly when. This is hard for me to admit! The Lord will judge each believer at the Bema seat of Christ for how they watched for His return. There are plenty of examples in Scripture about watching for our Master to return and being found faithful! Although a believer can sense the season (months-years) of the Lord’s return, no one is able to nail down a specific date! That is because the Lord knows our nature! He knows it’s best for us to always be anticipating His return and that it has a purifying effect on our life (1 John 3:1-3). 

I’ve watched many YouTube watchmen set dates (although they say they aren’t) and come up short every time. Many hide behind the idea that they are just speculating and that it’s okay to guess when the Lord is going to come back. Let me tell you, I fell into this trap in the fall of 2021. I was convinced that the Lord wanted to let us in on His secret of when exactly He would be coming back to rapture us! When the Lord rebuked me for falling for this, I came to realize that it is so easy, to blur the line between the Spirit and the flesh! 

Our flesh wants comfort. We don’t want to suffer. We want out of this world now! In fact, even the apostle Paul desired to depart and to be with Christ, for that was far better! But he also knew to remain, meant fruit for his labor!! So, how many of us are willing to stick it out in the future if the Lord tarries? Yes, we want Jesus to take us Home now!! But what if it is God’s will that we suffer for Him? A servant is not greater than His master! Jesus left us an example that we should follow in His footsteps.

I fear that many believers, have made comfort their idol. The general rule for Christians throughout church history is that we must take up our cross and follow Him. That means dying to ourselves! It’s painful! But necessary! 

Part of being a Rapture Ready watchman, is being willing to admit we don’t know the exact timeframe Jesus will come back, but ready and willing to stay busy and even suffer until He does! His thoughts are higher than ours, and His ways are higher than ours! We need to stop thinking we know better than Him, or when it’s the best time for Him to come back, and humbly surrender to whatever He calls us to experience!! ( Preaching to myself here). Maranatha!!