The Rapture vs Trials and Tribulations

It is a core belief of many Christians that we will be raptured or dead prior to the “Great Tribulation.” There is much evidence for this in scripture. This is excellent news for the believer! 

But where do we, as believers, get the audacity to think we will or should be free from any of the persecution or hardships suffered by Christians throughout the centuries? Jesus said that if the world hates us know that I hated him first. We should not expect a free pass from God on trials and suffering. We should not expect a free pass on tribulation. There is a difference between tribulation and the great tribulation. We will still suffer hardships.

I have stated before that we have had it pretty easy here in the US. We have, in time past, been relatively persecution-free. Yet I have maintained that those days will end. And we see it happening now! WE are becoming the minority, attacked for our Biblical beliefs, trapped squarely in the crosshairs of the canons of the devil’s evil, seductive and immoral agenda. The more corruption we experience in government, and in media, and in society, the more we will be singled out to suffer. 

Why? Because God tells us in no uncertain terms to steer clear from being influenced by this agenda. We are, instead, to model Christ and God’s truth. The world has no place for us in living this out. Yet that is what our job is! Why is it that a group of people with love as their mandate is to be targeted as the enemy? Because we are to represent TRUE love, which is to say God’s love. This selfish, self-serving love of the world is not love. Christ warned us that love would grow cold and it is a cold love out there!

Christian, do not falter in your faith! Do not waiver in your duty. You are an ambassador for the Kingdom and a warrior for Christ! We are not to fear, even to the point of suffering and death. We have the solution for the world’s ills and we are to continue to live out that solution, at all costs. We have been given plenty of good examples in history. 

Suffering will come to us all. Have faith. Christ has overcome the world and He has overcome death! Rejoice in the Lord and recognize that His coming IS SOON!