My wife and I recently flew from Hawaii to San Jose for our son Luke’s birthday. In that moment when we were taking off, I felt a tiny worm of doubt. What if we don’t make it? The pilot was revving the engines, but standing on the brakes, and the plane trembled as though eager to take off. Then the pilot let off the brakes and we started hurtling down the runway at 150 miles per hour.

Take Off or else

And since we run out of runway after 10,000 feet or so, the only solution is to gain altitude. Take off or else.

no more fear of flying

As our plane hurtled down the runway that day, a very different thought came to me. A new way of thinking about the acceleration we feel at takeoff. Could it be what Christians will feel when Jesus comes again?

For when he does, we ‘will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.’ Caught up into the clouds sounds to me like a pretty rapid acceleration to me.

Those believers alive at that moment will hear a loud command and then the peal of a very loud trumpet. Ta ta tada! And the next thing will be acceleration. One moment you’re standing on earth and the next you’re flying through the air to meet Jesus.

caught up in the clouds: 1 thessalonians 4:16-17 nIV

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. 17 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. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 NIV

Will everyone experience that power, the thrill of flying upward to meet our Lord?
All the believers who are alive at that moment will feel it. And before them, the dead in Christ will feel it. For they will be brought up too, newly alive in a shining resurrection body. But only the believers get to feel that blast of God’s power.

The next time you’re strapped into your seat on a plane feeling the engines revving, the massive plane trembling, and rapid acceleration pins you to your seat, just imagine you’re getting a tiny taste of what you’ll feel when Jesus comes again.

That moment of take off in a big jet can be exciting or even scary, but it’s nothing like the thrill believers will get flying up through the clouds to meet Jesus.

Yours in Christ, Kurt

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