{"id":51752,"date":"1999-01-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"1999-01-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/inconvenient-rapture\/"},"modified":"1999-01-01T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"1999-01-01T00:00:00","slug":"inconvenient-rapture","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/inconvenient-rapture\/","title":{"rendered":"Inconvenient Rapture?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[Our] striving after wind is motivated by a sinister desire to be independent of God, free from the frightening vulnerability of His watch-care. If we really do leave the securing of the universe up to Him, there&#39;s no telling what He might pull. When God calls the shots, people turn into prophets, mountains get cast into the sea, and dead men come back to life. Better we should be in control and have some idea of what is coming next. We will keep things on the even keel we so desire. I can&#39;t help but feel that the second coming itself would be an inconvenience for many of us.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[4186,4671,4934,5026,5027,5100,5113],"tax_ctp_topics":[378],"class_list":["post-51752","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-humanism","tax_ctp_tags-power-of-god","tax_ctp_tags-self-will","tax_ctp_tags-sovereignty","tax_ctp_tags-sovereignty-of-god","tax_ctp_tags-submission","tax_ctp_tags-supremacy-of-god"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Inconvenient Rapture? - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/inconvenient-rapture\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Inconvenient Rapture? - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[Our] striving after wind is motivated by a sinister desire to be independent of God, free from the frightening vulnerability of His watch-care. 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