The King is Coming!

I rarely remember my dreams and most of the time my dreams are not worth remembering much less blogging about. However, a few nights ago I had a dream that I want to put in print to remember. I probably want to do this more for my own sake than any other reason, but perhaps it may encourage someone else in the process.

In my dream, I was driving on a highway into a metro area and about to cross a large suspension bridge. I looked up into the sky and noticed some odd features in the clouds. I saw some circle shapes that I can't really describe, I just know they were there. Then I noticed indentations in a number of clouds. There was only one indentation in each cumulus cloud and they were different sizes, but each one was perfectly symmetrical. It was like someone took a ball and pushed it into the cloud leaving a perfect indentation. Some indentations seemed to have a ring indentation around the bowl shape. Others were just the bowl shape.

I believe I had just finished preaching a sermon in my dream or was going to preach one. I understood these strange cloud formations as signs of Christ's coming and so I wanted to share with people that Jesus was coming back. I arrived in the city and went to a church that met on the top floor of about a ten story building. The service had just ended and the clouds outside were beginning to circle. I let the congregation know they could leave if they wanted to, but for those who stayed I would share about Christ's coming.

I began sharing about the anomalous indentations in the clouds and someone tried to explain it away as some meteorological phenomenon. My voice intensified as I protested his explanation and clarified that what I saw has never occurred before. It was too symmetrical and distinct. This was a supernatural event.

As I debated this doubter, the clouds outside continued circling and the sky grew ominous. Massive funnel clouds appeared but taller than any I've seen and more numerous. They were all over the city and reached high above the city's skyscrapers. Lightning bristled through the sky and thunder rumbled in the distance. The congregation's attention turned to the events outside. Building tops were ripped off and windows shattered. The funnel clouds moved closer to our building and we witnessed people being taken up into the clouds. I realized that these people were going to meet the Lord in the air and my heart leapt with anticipation.

As a funnel cloud neared our building the windows shattered and the roof was removed allowing us to gaze upward into the sky. Joy and excitement flooded my being at the realization I would soon be taken up to Jesus. Then it happened. The cloud lifted me out of the building and began rising upward. However, there was no violent wind or thrashing of my body. In fact, it didn't even feel like I was rising, but I knew I was. My head was tilted back and my eyes gazed upward as I rose to meet Jesus. I can't describe the exhilaration and joy that pulsed through my being at that moment. The peace, excitement, contentment, and joy I felt was unprecedented. A smile of serenity and love marked my face.

Then I woke up.

As I contemplated my dream what stood out most was the anticipation and desire to meet my Savior. I couldn't wait to see Jesus. There was no fear or worry, just eager anticipation. I knew I was going to meet Him soon and I could hardly wait.

I described my dream to my wife that morning and she noted something else. She pointed out that I was preaching to the very end. I was preaching about my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ til the very moment I was taken up to meet Him. What a joy that would be for every believer to be sharing about the Lord at His coming.

I also considered some of the sad components in my dream regarding unbelievers. I thought about the man who tried to explain away the cloud phenomenon with bizarre meteorological rationale. How much that is like today as man repeatedly attempts to explain away God's hand in this world. And how tragic it will be for those who ignore Him to the end.

I know this was only a dream, and I certainly don't claim this is how the rapture will occur. But what I found so encouraging for myself was the great anticipation I felt as I rose to meet the Lord in the air. I believe that anticipation should mark every moment of our life on this earth, and I confess I often fail in that area. Yet, I want to live my life in that anticipation of the Lord's coming as scripture exhorts us to do. What motivation and strength that gives us to face the challenges of each day.

Paul, in I Thessalonians 4:18, instructed believers to encourage one another with the coming of the Lord. It truly is a wondrous encouragement to know that one day the Lord will come and that coming may be very soon. So on that thought, I will close with the words of the apostle John in the Revelation, "Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!"