I usually intentionally steer clear of anything related to the rapture. When I was about 6, I watched a movie at my friend's house that was kind of an earlier, very intense and graphic version of "Left Behind". This was in like '94, and I believe that was way before Left Behind came out. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure. Anyways, I still remember parts of the movie very vividly. It freaked me out, being that I was only 6. How is a 6-year-old supposed to comprehend something as immence as the rapture? The movie actually began right as the rapture took place, and then showed all of the horrors to take place after Jesus comes. I saw people losing loved ones, people dying due to others being taken up, the Mark of the Beast, and -probably the most traumatizing - the people who chose to follow Christ and not get the Mark being put to death. I actually saw people being beheaded when I was 6 (not really, but when you're 6 you think everything is real).
The family that showed me this meant well, and the movie is accurate as far as the Bible goes, but I think I was too young to try to handle that kind of information. Needless to say, I couldn't sleep after that. When I did sleep, I had nightmares of my parents being taken up into Heaven, and me being left behind to be beheaded. This was 15 years ago, and I still struggle with those images.
I said all of that to say why the thought of the rapture - and any materials relating to it - nothing short of terrorizes me. I always felt like I needn't be afraid of the Second Coming. After all, I am a follower of Christ. Still, the enemy whispered in my ear that I would be Left Behind. That though I accepted Christ and tried to live for Him, that it wasn't good enough and Christ would forget me or that I didn't believe or follow Him "right". There's nothing scarier than the thought of living a certain way (or striving to live a certain way) all of your life, only to find out when your life is over that you were wrong. That your belief and your effort to follow Christ wasn't "good enough" to get into Heaven. This is a lie from the pit. Satan wants you to believe this because it takes your mind off of God's purpose and causes you to worry needlessly.
Anyways, the point in all of this is to show you a video - the type of video I have stayed away from all of my life. It's only 2 minutes long, and it's not that profound or anything, but for some reason it made me realize that I have nothing to fear about the rapture. Our world is a broken place, and the only thing that is going to save us from this world is Jesus. A couple of years ago, this same video would have stopped me in my tracks (in a bad way), and made me have nightmares for weeks. Now it just leaves me with excitement and anticipation. I am waiting expectantly for our Lord to come back to bring us to Him. Hold on to your seat, though. This video is short, but it still made me jump!
Are you ready?
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Interesting video...I grew up on the same movies. My brother and I still talk about the impact they had on our lives.
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