I enjoy your site and live in New Zealand. I wonder at the assumption that we will just disappear at the moment of rapture against our free choice to go. Will God ever violate His own principle of free will? I have this persistent and uneasy feeling that yes, there will be a rapture, but in a very short moment of time we, as believers, will have a choice to join Jesus in the clouds.
I think there will be a temptation to phone loved ones, look for Fluffy the cat or lock the door etc. etc. Our own family has an agreement that wherever we are ( work/school ) we just go. No hesitation. I would appreciate your thoughtson this.
This is why the Rapture happens so quickly. It’ll be over before we know it’s begun. The Greek word in 1 Thes. 4:17 literally means “to seize, or carry off by force”. None of its meanings imply a choice on the part of those taken. If we had time to think about it some of us would make a huge mistake in judgment, and regret it throughout eternally.
As for our free will, every choice has consequences. One of the “consequences” of choosing to be a believer is that you go in the rapture.