Never in my wildest dreams, could I have imagined that something like this would ever happen. It all seems so surreal. I mean, what in the world is going on? The world has gone crazy. Millions of people all around the world have disappeared, just like that. One minute they are here, and the next minute, they are gone. You can imagine how chaotic things have gotten. Traffic jams, and auto collisions that were caused when drivers vanished from their cars. Planes falling from the skies with the disappearance of pilots flying the planes. Social media has gone crazy. Many people are saying that it is the start of an alien invasion, but they don’t really know what is happening. Nobody does.
The World In Chaos
All I know is that the world is in chaos, and nobody knows what to do. It started yesterday. I was getting off from work, and waiting on the train to take me home. We saw the train coming, and then it was the darnedest thing. I just looked down at my phone, and when I looked back up, it seemed as though there were fewer people at the train stop. Well it didn’t just seem like there were fewer people. There were fewer people. We were all standing there bewildered, wondering what the heck just happened. Then there was a loud crash, well there were a bunch of loud crashes, as a bus carrined right into the very train I was waiting for. Not to mention, a number of other cars ran into each other. One car even ran into a group of people trying to cross the street. People were running everywhere. I was still trying to figure out what was going on. People were pulling up the news feeds on their phones, but I tried to call my wife. It just went to voicemail. I left a message. I wanted to make sure she was ok.
It’s Happening Everywhere
Someone, after listening to a news update, said this same thing was happening all over the world. I really wanted to try and get hold of my wife. I wondered if she had made it home yet? She would usually get home before me. I really needed to get home. With all of the car and bus accidents in the streets, traffic was at a standstill, and wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. I didn’t live too far from downtown, where I worked, about three miles. I didn’t know what else to do, so I started walking. I was in pretty good shape, so it shouldn’t be a problem to walk that distance. It took almost two hours to get home. All along the route, it was pure chaos. I don’t know if you can imagine what it would be like when so many people just vanish into thin air. One second they are there, and the next second, they are gone.
Not At Home
When I finally got home, my wife wasn’t there. I had tried calling her constantly on the way home, but the calls always went to her voicemail. I even tried calling her work number, but no luck. I was getting frantic. Where could she be? I could just see her laying somewhere hurt in all of this chaos. I sat down on the living room sofa, not quite sure what to do. My phone rang. My heart jumped. Maybe it was my wife. No. It was my friend Greg. I had known him since college, and he was calling from where he lived in Philadelphia. “It’s pure craziness out here.” He said. I told him it was about the same where I am too. I told him I hadn’t been able to get hold of my wife, and had no idea where she could be. He was basically doing a buddy check, to make sure his friends and family were ok. He said he had been able to get in touch with just about everyone he had called, except his aunt. She didn’t have a cellphone, but Greg said she would probably be at church. She was always at church. As we ended the call, he asked me to keep him posted on my wife, and to stay safe. I said the same to him. I felt trapped. I didn’t know what to do. I decided to drive the route to my wife’s job, to see if I might be able to find her.
Chaos Everywhere
It was almost impossible to get through traffic, but somehow I made it. It seemed like it took forever. With every crash that I passed, and there were a lot, I looked to see if it was my wife’s car. Thank goodness, none of the cars involved in the crashes I passed were hers. It was crazy. People in the streets. One old man kept yelling that it was the end of the world. There’s always a few. I finally made it to my wife’s job, and her car was in the parking lot. A wave of relief came over me, knowing that she was ok, but wondered I why she had not answered her phone when I called her? I went inside of her building. The security guard’s desk was unattended. That was strange, but well, with everything going on.
No Luck At Work
I went to her office. She wasn’t there. Her purse, car keys, laptop, and cellphone were there, but she wasn’t. I went back out into the hallway to look for her. She had to be here somewhere. I ran into a few people. It was a small company. Everyone I saw was either frantically rushing around, or wandering around sort shell-shocked. None of them knew where my wife was. I looked through that entire building, and couldn’t find her. I went back to her office. I was at a loss. The world was going crazy, and I couldn’t find where my wife was. She should be right here. Then an alarming thought crossed my mind.
Is She Among The Missing?
What if she was one of the ones that went missing? I slumped into the chair behind her desk. I just sat there, trying to clear my head. Her being among the missing? That was unthinkable. Her bible and daily devotional sat beside her laptop. She was always reading her bible. She would always tell me that I needed to take more time developing my relationship with God. I keep telling her that me and God are good. I mean, we go to church every Sunday. We rarely miss. I sat back, and thought about what I should do. I tried calling some of our friends in our little hang-out group, but could not get hold of them. We were a group of about five couples, and we did a lot of things together. Movies, bowling, picnics, things like that. You know, they are a lot like my wife.
A Little Embarrassing
I mean they keep talking about God a lot, and things like that. I don’t have a problem with that, but sometimes it gets a little embarrassing when other people are walking by, and they hear you talking about God, and everything. People start to look at you as some kind of holy roller, or something. I remember one time though, when some of the guys were playing a pick-up basketball game with some other guys we didn’t know, and one of their guys gets mad, and hauls off and hits Greg in the face with the ball. It took all of us to keep Greg from giving the guy a major beat down. He later apologized to us for his behavior. The guy hit him, so I felt he was within his rights to knock him out. Greg said though, that he was striving to have his words, thoughts and actions be those that would glorify God, and him trying to beat someone down, even if some felt it may be justified, didn’t reflect that. Go figure.
A Little Too Much Jesus
You know, I was a Christian and everything, but sometimes I think people get a little too much Jesus in them. Well, I walked back to my car. I really didn’t know what to do. Who could I call about my wife, when all of this stuff was happening all around the world. I drove around, because I really didn’t feel like going home. I couldn’t go home, knowing my wife was missing. As I drove, I noticed that things were starting to settle down a little. No more car crashes, or planes falling out of the sky, but everyone was out. Some people were still trying to see if their loved ones were missing, or just hadn’t made it home yet. Some were wandering around in shock. A lot of people were crying, some were in hysterics. I listened to the reports on the radio.
The Children Are Missing
One thing they mentioned was that the children, the little children were among the missing. All of them. I was sort of glad that we didn’t have any. I couldn’t image what the parents must be going through. As I drove, I passed by this church, and I noticed a lot of people were going inside. Church. Why hadn’t I thought of that. I would go and see if my church was open. It should be. Maybe, somehow, they would have some answers. About thirty minutes later, I pulled up to our church. Thank goodness, it looked like it was open. I remember after 9/11 a lot of people started going to church. That didn’t last long though. I got out of the car and slowly walked inside.
Answers At Church
I was greeted by the church administrator. She had tears in her eyes. She hugged me, and as she did, crying, she whispered, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” I wondered how she knew my wife was missing. She took me by the hand and led me into the sanctuary. There were a few people in there. No one that I knew. One lady was on her knees just wailing. She would lift her hands up, and just kept saying, “Forgive me. Please forgive me.” A man was sitting in the corner with his head down, and his hands covering his face. He lifted his head up. It was Reverand Tillman, one of our Associate Ministers. I hadn’t even recognized him. He walked over to me. He had such a look of sadness on his face. “Hi Robert,” he said. “How are you holding up?” “Sheila’s missing.” I told him. He smiled sadly. “At least she made it. My Vonnie is gone too.” At least she made it? What was he talking about? “Pastor’s gone, deacons are gone.” He continued, “Just about the whole church is gone from what I can tell. Only a few of us are left. Just shows you what kind of ministry we had here.” I guess he could tell by the confused look on my face that I was at a total loss as to what he was talking about.” Do you even realize what’s going on?” He asked. “All I know is that my wife, your wife, and a bunch of people are missing, and nobody knows what’s going on!” I noticed that a few more people were filing in.
Never Really Believed
“You know, ” Rev. Tillman continued, “I never really believed. Yes, I know I’m an Ordained Minister, but I never really believed in God. I’ve been a phony all of these years. I could never understand how a God, who is supposed to be perfect, could have a creation that’s imperfect. Mankind, we’re supposed to be sinners. So how can God, who is supposed to be perfect, have a creation full of sinners. It didn’t make sense to me, and all of those stories in the bible. I mean a donkey talking? A person turning into a pillar of salt? Really?” All of a sudden, a man in the back of the sanctuary collapsed on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably. “I MISSED IT! I MISSED IT!” He cried. “IT WAS ALL TRUE. OH GOD! WHAT AM I GOING TO DO! WHAT AM I GOING TO DO!” Several people ran over to him and tried to console him, but he was inconsolable. A couple of people helped him to his feet, and to a pew, where he sat, still sobbing. I wondered what he meant by, “I missed it.” Rev. Tillman put his hand on my shoulder. “Come on Robert.” He said. “I can see that you don’t really know what has happened. Let’s go over here and sit down. I’m about to give you the worse news you have ever heard.”
The Worst News In My Life
I left the church, and walked to my car in total shock. It couldn’t be true. It just couldn’t be. I mean there was no way it could be true. There had to be another explanation. Now I understood what he had meant when he said that my wife had made it. Now I understood what everyone in the church was upset about, and now I’m upset too. I feel lost. This just can’t be. Rev. Tillman told me that Christ had come back for his church. He showed me 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, which said, “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”
It Couldn’t Be
That couldn’t have been what had happened. In a way though, if it was true, at least I knew my wife was ok. Heck, better than ok. Part of me wanted to believe it was true, but then, if it was true, why was I still here? I mean, I’m a Christian, and I’ve gone to church just about all of my life. I got baptized when I was 14. My younger brother was getting baptized, and I didn’t think my little brother should be getting baptized before me. I mean, that would look funny. At least, that’s what I thought. I liked church, and going to youth group and everything, but outside of that, I really didn’t think about God too much.
But I Was A Good Kid
I was a good kid though. I never got into any trouble. I remember, our youth leader always talked about putting your faith in Christ. Yeah, that all sounded good, but I figured that was always something I could think about later, maybe when I was older. I didn’t see any of my friends putting their faith in Christ, although, I’m not even sure what that would have looked like. Maybe it meant praying, and reading the bible like my parents did. I could always do that kind of stuff later. When I was 17, I went to a youth revival with this girl I liked. I wanted to take her to the movies, or out to eat, but the only place her parents would let me take her to was church, so that’s where we went. I remember that it was really good. At the end, they asked people if they wanted to come forward. I did.
The Sinner’s Prayer
They had me say what they called the “Sinner’s Prayer,” basically saying that I knew I was a sinner, and Jesus died for my sins, and to repent, and ask Jesus into my heart. That’s what I did, and it felt good. I was on cloud nine for about three or four days, but then the good feeling went away. I didn’t think much about God after that. Not even at church, and youth-group. That was for seeing my friends who I hadn’t seen all week, since we all went to different schools. When I went off to college, I remember my dad told me to take Jesus everywhere I went. Well, I wasn’t even sure how to do that. Take Jesus with you? Hmm. How could you take Jesus with you on the football field? I forgot to say that I played football. In college, I started out trying to go to church, but a lot of times on Sunday, I was tired from our game on Saturday. Soon, Sunday mornings were for washing clothes, rather than going to church. I was still a good person though. I didn’t get into trouble, and I studied hard, and even showed good sportsmanship on the football field. I rarely even swore.
No Time For God
After I got out of college, I had to find a job. Who really has time for God when you are trying to find a job? That’s a full-time job in itself. I was still a good person though. I figured, if you’re a good person, you’re good with God. Once I finally got a job, that’s when things got really busy. I figured though, that I should probably start going to church again. Just so my parents would quit asking me. So I joined this church not to far away from where I lived. I joined under Christian Experience. I was a Christian after all. Like I said before, I had gotten baptized when I was 14, and I said that sinner’s prayer when I was 17, so I was in the club. I met the lady who would eventually be my wife not too long after that. She attended the same church. We got married after dating for about a year. She was heavy into the church. She taught Sunday School. She went to bible study, was part of the prayer team, and such. She was always asking me to be more involved.
I Don’t Need All Of That Church Stuff
All of that church business was good for her, but I didn’t need to do all of that. Once a week was enough for me. I mean, I went to church. I paid my tithes. What more would God want of me? As I sat in my car, I sighed. Obviously God must have wanted more from me, because I was still here, and she was gone. I looked at my phone to see if there was any updated information on all of this. The news feed I was reading was stating how many people were looking to the church for answers, but in many cases, many of the people, and people who were involved with the church were missing.
Why Am I Still Here
Their disappearances were at a much higher percentage than those who did not attend church. Well, I attended church every week. Why was I still here. I had always heard that Jesus Christ would return, but I always figured that would be some time way in the future. Not now. My wife knew me better than anyone. She always told me that even though I went to church weekly, and even though I paid my tithes, it wasn’t about that. It was about having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It was about recognizing the fact that we are all disobedient to God, and Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for our disobedience, and then he rose from the dead on the third day, and now if we repent from our disobedience, and put our faith in Christ, we will be reconciled with God. I had always just ignored her as being too christian. Now though, Christ had returned, and I was still here. I feel totally lost and alone. What am I supposed to do now?
Conclusion
You know, we need to be ready for the return of Christ, because we do not know when it will be. It could be tomorrow. It could be 100 years from now. It could be 1,000 years from now. We don’t know. Just as important, we need to be ready for the fact that we may not live to see even tomorrow, for tomorrow is not promised to us. Proverbs 27:1 says, “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.” How do we get ready? First by recognizing the fact that we are sinners. What is sin? It’s disobedience to God. We are all sinners. Romans 3:23-24 says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Sin separated us from God. The next step is to turn away from your sins, or to repent of your sins. The next is to understand that Jesus Christ is God’s only son. He was the only person to walk the face of the earth and be without sin. When Jesus died on the cross, he paid the price for our sins, so we could be reconciled with God. In other words, Christ took our punishment. When he rose from the dead, he defeated death. It proved that Jesus Christ is the son of God. That means through him, we are reconciled with God forever. Please feel free to leave questions, or comments.
The pic of this post is an image of a sunset which basically represents, the end of an era. With Christ returning for his church, life, as it is currently known on this earth, will be at an end. The second pic of this post, yes this one has two, is my interpretation of the rapture of God’s church. To check both of these pictures out, just click “Pic Of The Post” link, and also this link, Pic Of The Post 2.
OK. Just One More Thing
This story has been based on the rapture of the church, where Christ comes for his believers, living and dead, and they are caught up in the air with Christ before a seven year period of tribulation. Understand that people will still be able to come to Christ during the tribulation period, but there will be much suffering during this time. After the seven years of tribulation, Christ will return to earth with his church. He will be victorious over his enemies, and and reign on the earth for 1,000 years with his church. After the 1,000 years, all unbelievers, living and dead, will be judged and then cast into the lake of fire. A new heaven and earth will be established for all of Christ’s believers. Others, though, believe the rapture will not occur until after the seven year tribulation, when Christ will come to establish his kingdom. The point of this story is not to debate how Christ will return, but to encourage people to be ready, regardless of how Christ returns, and even more importantly, be ready in the great possibility that we will face physical death before the return of Christ. The point is to Be Ready!!!