The Emergency Alert System

If you carry a cell phone, I’m sure you received this alert a couple of days ago. And, in case we think this was a President Trump knee-jerk decision to send out personal texts – au contraire! President Obama signed a law in 2016 that required FEMA to create a system that allowed the president to send cell phone alerts regarding public safety emergencies. They did it! It’s already used for natural disasters or missing children alerts that we can opt out of, but no one can opt out of the presidential alert system. The president has sole responsibility for determining when such alerts are to be used. But don’t check your text messages expecting to hear President Trump’s opinion on Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation process or other news. The presidential alerts can be used only for national emergencies.

My, how far we’ve come. In a matter of seconds, everyone who owns a cell phone can receive a message that could save our lives. I’m thankful for warning systems. The dashboard lights in my car, smoke detectors in my home, even the little bumps in the road that let me know when I’m crossing over into another lane. If there’s any device or object that’s able to warn me of danger or impending catastrophe, I want it working for me.

In the Lord’s perfect design, we are equipped with a warning system to keep us from danger and harm. Pain is a warning system. When we first experience that pain, it may not feel like a blessing, but it’s really a gift from God. We know something is physically wrong when our body hurts. But more than that, pain is God’s way of protecting us. Maybe it’s as simple as needing to drink more water, get more rest, making better food choices, and/or getting into some fitness routines.

From a spiritual perspective, we have another built-in warning system – our conscience. Just as pain warns us of physical danger to our body, our conscience warns us about the potential threat to our morals and values. Our conscience alone can’t save us. It’s merely a warning device. And unless it has been guarded and trained, it won’t be able to alert us to spiritual danger. A malnourished, confused, and underdeveloped conscience won’t be able to protect us. In fact, it could actually lead us to immorality and regrets.

Yesterday I talked about training our spiritual muscles. That training can be applied to training our conscience like our physical and spiritual muscles. It needs to be developed and protected and sharpened. Living a life of freedom, joy, peace, hope, and love is possible and that’s why God made sure to give us such amazing warning systems. My Mom’s famous line was “Let your conscience be your guide”. Those were her parting words when I went out with my girlfriends or boyfriend. Those words served me well as they were loud in my ears and kept me on the straight and narrow path. May we heed God’s warning signals and alerts.

Never do we want to ignore His warning system. It’s his love call and his love language. He loves us too much to leave us.