~ Me ~

I didn’t want a perfect Christian happily-ever-after story or a typical ending where I cop out by making the tale a dream. And yes, I could do a sequel or two by having someone rescue a paralyzed Sarah, providing perspectives from others of what happens next or during the Tribulation.

As far as Sarah is concerned in this book, it’s depressing, but I tried to think like a controlling, self-assured non-believer of Christ. I’m sorry, and I apologize if you’re disappointed or don’t care for an alpha female character who could easily get on your nerves or reminds you of yourself, which we all do in some ways, especially if we like to be always in control.

Back to “you,” the reader: What if you could go inside someone’s head and witness everything from only that person’s perspective, even if you didn’t agree with him or her? Even if you didn’t like the individual?

What would you do if the actual Rapture happened today, this minute, this second? Would you be left behind to figure it out?

How would you react to having a friend or family member missing suddenly? Or would you be one of the taken?

Better yet, will you be taken in the air with me to see our Lord if we’re alive when it happens? Can you comprehend or believe such a happening? I can’t, yet this is my poor attempt at trying to figure out how it may or could happen.

I must confess this story threw me for a loop. Like Sarah, I want to be the one in control and on top of every situation. And like Amy, I’m stubborn about preaching my beliefs in God, not allowing the Holy Spirit to work in those around me. I must remember to “speak the truth in love,” but I so often fall short when dealing with others.

God is at work in you and me this second. He’s having you read this for a purpose, His purpose.

Think about this: Did someone give you this book to read because they have a burden for you, for your life after death—because they love you but can’t explain it or have built up walls between you two? A friend, a family member, or a loved one? Did you get it as a gift and kept putting off reading it until this precise moment? Or did you pick it up on your own, curious to know what the Rapture is, or wanting to learn more about what the Bible tells us about it?

Or it’s like this: Every time God, Heaven, and Hell are mentioned in the same sentence, you and the person who gave you this book argue and become more distant from each other. I know—I’m part of the same problem. People like me mean well, truly we do, but we can’t present the truth the way God wants us to. We jump the gun and say something at the wrong time.

Please don’t lash out at the messenger, but pay attention to the message, however clumsily it’s been delivered.

Thank goodness for the Holy Spirit, who intercedes and will prompt or pester you to get you to stop, listen, and believe in Him.

Or maybe you already are a believer who’s captivated, like I am, by the idea of a Pre-Tribulation Rapture happening soon. This book was exciting to research and analyze the different interpretations. There may be Biblical errors in it, and things, of course, may not happen the way I imagine. That’s why none of it, including the people, is real; it’s merely my idea of what it could be like if it took place when I wrote the novel. I could be completely off-base with the scenarios. I’ll be the first to admit my faults. But seriously, what if it happened right now?

Writing this story several times over three decades taught me quite a bit about different theories on the topic. The Bible states that no one knows when the Rapture will occur. Some believe it will be before the Tribulation, yet others think it will begin after the Tribulation has started or in the middle or end of the seven years. God is a loving God with perfect timing in all things, so He will rescue His people at the right time. My belief (and hope) is that it will happen at the beginning, as I selfishly do not want to live through the intense destruction.

Scripture says both the dead and alive in Christ will be caught up. What a fantastic concept. If the Rapture doesn’t happen in our time, while we’re on this earth, we who believe in Him and die have the assurance that we will be raised with those alive when it does happen. Better yet, if we’ve already left these earthly bodies behind, we will precede those who are alive in Christ when He calls for us.

My research also led me to believe that the Lord’s shout, archangel’s voice, and the trump of God mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 will possibly be heard by both believers and unbelievers. I base this on the Apostle Paul’s Damascus conversion when those with him heard Christ speaking to Paul but couldn’t understand or see Him. I don’t think an unbeliever will be able to decipher the shout or conceive what is happening at that moment. But I do think he or she may hear something—like an indiscernible sound, which could be explained away as the “cause” of the missing loved ones.

Another phenomenon that may be thoroughly confusing is the question of children. Since the New Testament never mentions children during the Tribulation except for references to those who are with child or nursing (meaning pregnancies or those born during the seven years), one could speculate that all the rest of the children already have been taken to Heaven in the Rapture. Some theologians have considered that there could be an age of accountability for a child to believe in Christ—an age when a young person decides to turn his or her life over to God. If so, what age would it be? The age of ten to twelve came up often in my research, but only the Lord knows our hearts, including a child’s. He knows all His children personally.

There’s the discussion about the unborn. My only thought was that if a pregnant mother is a believer and is raptured, I doubt the child in her womb would fall out of her onto the floor. So why wouldn’t all unborn or newborns be taken?

The mentally handicapped may be considered as children and raptured also. I don’t know, nor do I have all the answers.

As you know, I have taken the liberty of including these speculations in my story. Please don’t hold me accountable; I’m only mentioning these things to get you, the reader, to think more deeply about the topic.

Lastly, I could come to no conclusions in researching the issue of a second chance. If you hear the Word of God and don’t believe, and the Rapture happens, will you get a second chance? Will you be able to change your mind during the Tribulation? There will be those saved during those days, but were they given the eternal plan of salvation before the Rapture occurred and rejected it?

. . . because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie; That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

I don’t know at what point the Holy Spirit determines or relinquishes His love toward you if you’re not a believer but have heard the plan of salvation. I don’t know when God, who knows exactly who will become believers, turns His back on those who refuse to believe.

This is the scariest part of contemplating the event of the Rapture itself. The Bible clearly states that a delusion will befall those who are untaken. I would hate for you to fall into that trap, a trap leading to eternal damnation.

Wouldn’t that make you concerned enough to make sure you’re a follower of Christ for eternity?

I don’t know where you are in your relationship with God. If you think you’re not good or worthy enough to be one of His children, please don’t. Everyone is no good, including me as a believer. Only Jesus can save us—not through our works and the things we do, but because of His endless love, grace, and mercy when He shed His blood on the cross for our sins and died for us. Our faith in Him changes us.

If this time, right now as you read these words, the Holy Spirit’s prompting you, please listen to Him. He’s here for you, always.

Believe in Him now. Reread the prior chapter and prayer with a tender heart and be assured you won’t be taken by surprise.

The Rapture may or may not happen today, tomorrow, next week, or years from now, but when it does, I hope and pray to see you there, in the clouds, as we spend forever with the Lord.