Like you I believe that the Lord is soon to take his church home and I have taught my children the same. I have a fifteen year old daughter who gets scared and very emotional when we talk about the rapture. She is without doubt a believer, but wants to grow up and be a mom like her mother and be able to experience all that we have. I don’t know how to comfort her knowing that the Word says we will be like the angels not given in marriage. I also have a 18 year old son who when I speak of the rapture wants to use this as an excuse to say that if it’s really near why should he try for a future here. I have taught him that no one knows the exact time and to be ready for it anytime but not to stop trying to better himself until the end. What are your thoughts?
All their lives, kids have been taught to dream about what they want to be when they grow up. It’s hard for them to understand that unlike all the previous generations, they won’t grow up on Earth, and their childhood dreams won’t come true. It’s not surprising that they experience feelings of loss and futility.
We know that regardless of when the rapture happens the future on Earth will not be like the past, and the likelihood that this generation of youth will get to experience the so-called “American Dream” is getting smaller by the day.
What the Bible says about the Millennial Kingdom is for people on Earth. All it says about our life after the rapture is that there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain (Rev. 21:4) and that our post-rapture life is beyond imagining (1 Cor 2:9). This means what awaits them is an eternity of unimaginable joy, and that they’ll never have even a moment’s regret about not living out their days here.
Teach them about storing up treasure in Heaven while we wait (Matt. 6:19-21) and look for family projects you could undertake together to make this idea “real” for them. Tell them the Bible says we’re to trust the Lord to take care of our needs and not to worry about the future (Matt. 6:25-34) In other words try to shift their focus away from what they won’t have to what they will.