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Anticipation is building. Can you feel it? We know daybreaks are dwindling and that soon, the final sunset will come when the Son sets out to claim His bride. The concept of us being raptured, us being snatched away from this wicked world just in the nick of time, is so utterly fantastical and inconceivable that it’s sometimes hard to believe it is true. We look at Scripture just to make sure we haven’t missed something and are reminded that our God, the one who parts seas and stills the sun, is capable of something just that big, something as extreme as parting skies and bursting open graves. It’s not our imaginations at all. He’s coming.
Even amid our present frustrations over how we’re ignored and ridiculed for our beliefs in a pretribulation rapture, our internal excitement grows. Maybe for some, you can’t call it excitement exactly, but you’ll sure call it a relief to get out of a world so hardly recognizable compared to where you grew up. We’re all growing weary waking and warning. Others won’t listen. For most, they’ll only believe when the world as they know it ends, so we can’t wait for the day to prove them wrong. Then it happens like a solid blow to the chest as reality settles upon our hearts. Our rescue will leave billions to suffer. Some of those billions will be our loved ones, our parents and siblings, husbands and wives, sons and daughters, coworkers, and even co-laborers in the church.
Truth is, because I have a vivid writer’s imagination, I can’t allow myself to dwell much on those thoughts with any great detail. They’re just too crushing. Four horsemen riding, bringing wars and famine, death and destruction, is all too much. From the very second after our disappearance, perpetual, spiritual nightfall will settle upon an unsuspecting people. No matter how long the period between the rapture and the signing of the covenant that will officially kick off the tribulation, when the light is removed, darkness will quickly become utter blackness with no restrainer to restrain. Inexpressible wickedness will rise and fill the vacuum left by the exodus of the church.
Maybe you’re like me and find it easier not to think much of their futures here, those who will be left behind. But just because we refuse to dwell on what they will experience doesn’t make the reality of their plight any less real. What if we found a constructive way to process our heartbreak and reach out to them after we’re gone? What if we go out in such a blaze of God’s glory that we cast light ahead into their existence like shining stars on the black canvas of night? What if we build them a sanctuary, many sanctuaries?
The idea of preparing a sanctuary in my home for those who will be left behind has been something that’s burdened me for over two years now. Recently, though, my urgency has been rising. How can I hope for the soon return of Jesus and pray for just that and not have my home squared away as much as possible? Guests are coming. I often wonder, as well-intentioned as I am, what if the rapture happens today and I haven’t completed my preparations? I’ll be brokenhearted and filled with regret over not completing a task so vital, yet one that’s a quiet whisper compared to all the other clamoring voices on my to-do list.
I watched a video this week that brought excitement to this long-waiting soul, one that gives me renewed hope for a sooner-than-later rapture. In my excitement, however, you can imagine the reminder, or maybe conviction is a better word, that echoed deep in my spirit. What about them? I now feel impressed upon to pause those things in life that I can and get accomplished, the work of building a sanctuary. Maybe it’s time you do the same.
If you have letters you want to write to those who will be left behind, sit down and do it. With all the beautiful letters I’ve found online, I have little hope that those who are desperate to know what happened to us will find those letters and rapture videos. I would imagine one of the first priorities of Satan will be to use AI to scrub the internet of any and all references to Jesus and the rapture. He’s called the prince of the air in Ephesians 2:2, so it would stand to reason that he will make vanish into thin air all our efforts to leave behind messages. If it’s not in print, don’t assume anyone will see it.
I have to wonder about my time dragging my feet. Sure, I’ve got the physical preparations pretty much done, at least as much as I know to do. I’ve known as I’ve purchased food for my family that it may actually be used by those who are left behind. I can’t help but hope it’s for them. I don’t think it makes me selfish that I say that. I think it makes me human. I don’t want to live in a world where starvation and poverty ravage my community and nation.
I hope we’re gone by then based on Jesus saying that when He comes, the world, for the most part, will be like in the days of Noah — folks eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. I know there are differing views on that passage and its application, but hey, it gives me hope, so let me have it. If that verse is misapplied and severe hunger and global collapse occur before Jesus comes back, then I know by His power, protection, and provision, my family will be sustained.
I think my feet dragging has been more on the spiritual side of things. I have no, none, zero words that can possibly comfort the terror-filled hearts of people who figure out what’s happened, that they’ve been left behind to face the worst time in human history. It’s all so unimaginable for me that I find myself dreading addressing them. So I’ve stalled and allowed the item on my to-do list titled “Missing Letter” to be carried over week after week, month after month. Now, I have to stop the postponing and procrastinating and face what I’ve determined are my own fears. I’m afraid I won’t do it right or say it right or give them what they need to find Jesus.
I won’t. I have to accept my inadequacy for the task and write to them anyway. They need to be warned. They need to know they are loved by a faraway people and a nearby Savior. They need hope. That’s what they will be desperate for — hope. When those of us who bear the Spirit of the Light of the world are gone, what might we leave in our homes turned sanctuaries to tell them how they might seek out the Light of day?
Would you like to join me on this overwhelming and maybe even a little exciting journey of preparing our homes to be sanctuaries? We often hear pastors say how the tribulation is now casting its shadow upon us. Maybe we can do a little future light-casting of our own. I think it might be a welcome relief for our weary hearts. I’m tired of trying to shake church people awake and convince them of truth. I think I will enjoy a brief season of helping a people who will be desperately looking for answers and food and Jesus. Let’s focus on them for a while.
In the weeks to come, beginning after Thanksgiving, I will share with you my efforts to blaze, how I plan to cast light into the coming darkness. The articles will run here on Rapture Ready, so if you would like to be notified when those are available, you can sign up here: Updates.
I look forward to sharing this with you and blazing together for His glory.
Many blessings,
Lisa
If you are interested in watching the video I referenced above, it’s here: Generation 2434 (with Tyler) – Running Out Of Normal – with Pete Garcia. Tyler and Pete do a great job of depicting just how little time we have remaining of what can be considered relatively normal life. Too much is coming on the world, shadows of what Revelation 6 depicts as a picture of the tribulation: wars, famine, and massive, wide-scale death. You may have to set aside a few blocks of time since it’s such a long video, but I assure you it’s worth your time.
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About Daybreak with Lisa:
Daybreak is a way of life, one of exposing the rising darkness and telling of the soon-coming Light. We only have so many daybreaks remaining before that final sunset when we, as believers, are caught up in the air to meet Jesus.
As an author, Lisa Heaton is a storyteller with a heart for truth. Her greatest desire in her fiction and nonfiction work is to challenge the reader to discover the truth of who Jesus is and who they are to Him. Now, here as we wait for the any-minute arrival of Jesus for His church in the rapture, Lisa’s latest mission is to warn the lost and wake the found and to help others discover their unique voice to share the truth of our times. More at DaybreakWithLisa.com.
The post Rapture: Before the Final Sunset :: By Lisa Heaton appeared first on Rapture Ready.
