Rapture Ready, or Tribulation Ready?

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

When I first became interested in Christ back in 2005, I found out many things, including about the Rapture. Since that time, I had always held a belief in the pre-tribulation Rapture. I frequented sites, my favorite being www.raptureready.com . Of course, returning to Christ a couple months back, this time being born again, I've found out a lot of things. The sermons here help clarify some topics that I get confused about, and of course reading the Bible is a must.

Needless to say, the past 24 hours have been very trying since I first heard it yesterday. I usually do Bible study and sermon listening at night before I go to sleep, and a thought came into my head, nudging my interest in the Rapture. So, I looked it up in the audio sermons here, and I listened to "Shocking Truths about the Rapture You Did Not Know" by Edward Watson. It scared me a lot, because I thought, "If he's correct, we're going to have to suffer through the Tribulation, to be tortured and killed." So I googled more info about the truth behind the Rapture, and there was plenty of Biblical proof!

It isn't being killed that frightens me, really, it's what manner of torture will they inflict on me beforehand, how will I suffer and how long must I endure? I hate torture to begin with, so naturally this very thought has not only made me very sick spiritually, but sick physically as well (I'll spare the details). This thought is all I can think about. Instead of thinking about how much God loves me, about His Son dying for me, and it being an honor to suffer for Christ, all I can think about is "where can I go to escape the persecutors and the mark of the beast? How soon before the tribulation begins? What should I do in the meantime?"

I prayed to God on this, and He gave me some comfort, but I'm still deeply concerned. I'm not concerned about whether or not I'll leave the faith, rather my concern comes from the fact that I'll never abandon my faith for anything, and that being the case, what should I do?!

I can't rest, I can barely eat, I feel sick, I don't believe I'm bearing any good fruit, I'm not even thinking Heavenward! Can you help me sort this out, please? Will the Rapture indeed happen pre-tribulation, or post-tribulation? If it really is the latter, how can I stop worrying about it so profusely and be strengthened to "endure unto the end"? Any help or guidance or even rebuking will be greatly appreciated. God bless you all.

My brother. It matters not when the time that the Lord comes, as long as you are with Him when He does come.

Pre, mid or post trib. It matters not. What matters is that Lord's yoke is ease and His burden is light. Matthew 11:30

No matter what we go through, the Lord will never leave you. Trust in Him.

jmooney6 wrote:
Will the Rapture indeed happen pre-tribulation, or post-tribulation? If it really is the latter, how can I stop worrying about it so profusely and be strengthened to "endure unto the end"? Any help or guidance or even rebuking will be greatly appreciated. God bless you all.

Jim,

I think being honest regarding how you feel on this matter, as you have done, goes a long way. Pretrib rapture doctrine never sat right with me from the moment I heard the issue existed, and the more I read my Bible, the more pursuaded I am that the great tribulation will come before Christ's return for His millenial reign.

Of course, that doesn't help you, in your situation. One thing that I am reading in your post is that [u]you[/u] are worried about how [u]you[/u] would cope if [u]you[/u] had to endure the kind of suffering described. Where does Christ factor into your consideration?

Your post reminds me of myself, prior to my conversion, as a lay youth minister. When I read Galatians 2:20, I was terrified. I couldn't handle the thought of yielding my life to another's will, entirely. I needed to be in control. The tragic thing is, I was required to go through some tumulturous suffering in order to break free of this (I won't elaborate here, but feel free to PM me if you want to know more).

The man who types this now, is so far removed from the man who had those concerns, after six or seven years of tempering. Now days, Galatians 2:20 is one of my favourite passages of Scripture, and I cling to its promise for dear life. I'm sure if you look at your life now, and compared it to that of the man who only had a mere "interest" in Christ, you'd see a stark contrast. How much more so, in the time between now, and a potential tribulation period?

At the end of the day (no pun intended) our eschatological views will have no influence over the eschatological outcome. Scripture promises that Christ will keep his elect, and that his sheep will hear his voice, and the voice of a stranger they shall not follow. Place your trust in Christ, who is just as capable of sustaining you through trials and tribulations, as he is of taking you out of them. If you can trust him for one, then you can trust him for the other.

Having said all that, it is the most healthiest thing in the world to feel the way you do about the situation. Doesn't it remind you of your Lord in Gethsemane?

On a practical note, try reading Oswald Chambers, and listening to Art Katz. You are obviously already reading you Bible, so continue to pray that the Lord will reveal His trust on this matter, and give you peace regarding whatever He shows you is His perfect will.

I'll be praying for you, that the Lord will continue to strengthen you in this time (it might not feel like it now, but that is exactly what He is doing).

hi, most end time people start in daniel for the basis for their teachings. dan2 describes the dream of neb. and daniels teling him his dream and the details of what the dream is saying.chap.3 shows that neb.built a idol that even the hebrews had to bow down and worship... beast... they say 'our God is able to deliver us[rapture] but if not we will not bow down...enraged the king had the furnace of death heated up to 7 times the normal temp...tribulation... the people who placed the hebrew children in the oven were killed but not even the hairs on the hebrews were singed and God was with them...Christophony... if you are in Christ the worst than can happen is temoral death, which happens to all.cheer up and be ready no matter what happens.jimp i wish i could type and spell.lol

Brother, do you know the 91st psalm?

Fear not. We have the assurance, not that our Lord will rapture us out of trouble, but that He will be with us IN trouble.

Read and meditate on the whole psalm, and note partiularly the 15th verse. Ps. 91.15