I am addicted! My addiction is not consistent but when a weather event is predicted, it gets my attention! And I can’t resist following the latest updates. Generally, a weather event comes with lots of warnings or you might say alarms. It might be for large amounts of rain that might be coming or possibly snow and wind that would send a blizzard to us and the threat should keep us home where we are safe. Maybe it is going to be tooooooo hot! Or too cold. Those heat and cold indexes are discussed so much that you begin to be afraid. There are warnings for fog and for smoke and even for wind and maybe dust. These warnings are meant for our own safety when it comes to weather. This summer we have had many warnings from weather people. Even the discussion of a possible heat index of 105 degrees makes me feel hot and dread those days. Or a wind chill of -45 degrees also makes me fear the coming cold day. Often the warning is needed but when that event or day goes by, sometimes I think, well, that wasn’t as bad as I expected it would be!
We are advised to pay attention to the warning, to have multiple ways to receive a warning, tune your weather radio, to keep our phones on to hear the warning in the middle of the night. I wonder how we survived before the age of the cell phone? And then there is the threat of tornadoes and we receive endless warnings and alarms on the TV until the threat ends. Some get annoyed at the alarm that doesn’t affect them. But the moment the event affects you—you are more than happy to have that endless warning and progress of the storm. Recently we learned what can happen when no warning is given. The flooding river in Texas came with no warning and no alarm of what was going to happen, not even for what might happen! So many lives were lost because there was no alarm! There are tornado warning siren towers in many towns and yet we are told that they are only for those outside within the town. They cannot be depended on to help you save your life for the most part. It helps to teach us that we don’t need to heed the alarms. How many times have you heard the stories about kids, even adults, who cannot wake up to a normal alarm clock. So they resort to all kinds of gimmicks—multiple alarms, many with different sounds, some that can drop something on the sleeper, putting the alarm across the room to force you to get up. Some are set to turn on to gentle wake up music and gradually get louder to finally you are annoyed enough to just get up and quiet the thing. Or set the alarm clock in a noisy pan to rattle.
All around us are warnings and alarms. So many that often we become immune to them. There is an alarm on my freezer that lets me know something is amiss. There are alarms on my microwave and my instant pot and my toaster oven that let me know the cycle is done but often when I am busy, I don’t pay very good attention and the alarm has done me no good. On the other hand, my freezer alarm gives me warning that something is amiss—like the door is ajar! I appreciate knowing that but sometimes it seems like nothing I can do will fix it. I adjust this thing and that thing and the alarm still keeps sounding and making me grow frustrated. How can just removing one thing from the freezer upset the whole system? I still appreciate that alarm even in my frustration!
Today’s cars have some handy alarms right there on the dash in front of us that let us know and warn that something needs attention—check the oil, there’s a door ajar, the oil pressure is low, you have a flat tire. And the worst—check the engine! BUT—the car seems to be running just fine! Is it a false alarm? Can I ignore it until it is convenient for me to have someone check it for me? But then I run the risk of forgetting to go back later to have it checked. Or have I become so used to the alarms that I have a habit of assuming that many alarms are false and now I have the habit of not paying attention.
There are other lifesaving alarms and warnings for our homes—Smoke alarms, CO warning devices, Radon warnings, Fire alarms, ADT Security Services, Burglar alarms, Ring cameras with alarms, Motion detectors, Medical Alert systems, even water leak and gas detection devices. All of these because we live in fear and have a need to keep safe. Hospitals have various alarms that warn nurses and technicians and doctors that there is something happening with a patient that makes them need life saving measures.
We had a smoke alarm experience years ago that we have not been able to forget. One night, well after we had been asleep for hours, we were awakened by the loud and harsh sounds of the smoke alarm. It definitely was a sound we couldn’t ignore. But with a middle of the night inspection and no smell of smoke, we decided there was no problem. Still, we needed to have quiet in order to get back to sleep, hopefully. There was only one way to get quietness—take apart the alarm. Doing that, Garry discovered the reason for the alarm! A small spider had gotten inside and caused the problem connecting the points on the test button.
We have visited our son and family where we were alerted to a nearby forest fire! There wasn’t an alarm directly given to us but when you see helicopters and planes flying overhead dropping water and flame retardant, you are properly alarmed! Then we got a notice that we should prepare for evacuation. We did not have transportation of our own so could not pack up things to take with us. It was easy to decide what we should take with us! We just needed our travel money and our train tickets. Everything else could and would be left behind. Later that evening we went to bed but the view out our window was of the trees and forest on fire and flames reaching into the sky on the hill above us. We hadn’t evacuated yet, but stayed prepared because we had been warned and were alarmed!
Our bodies come equipped with alarms that let us know something isn’t right and needs our attention. If you are like me, I tend to want to ignore the alarm. I don’t like to visit with medical professionals and in medical institutions. But I have come to appreciate but still not anticipate the visits with an “I am glad”. I have made the choice to not ignore the alarms my body gives. For when I do, I do not like the consequences.
Noises surround us in this swift and fast world. We have made some of them useful, for example, the sound of a cell phone’s alarm to wake us up or remind us to exercise. Even the microwave beeps when the food is ready and warm. Noise alerts or alarms are those noises that help us live well. What would become of us without these alarms? God’s Word warns us about and gives the value of alarms, both to the one who sends the message and for the one who receives it: “Then if those who hear the alarm refuse to take action, it is their own fault if they die. They heard the alarm but ignored it, so the responsibility is theirs. If they had listened to the warning, they could have saved their lives” (Ezekiel 33:4-6 NLT). God gives us the opportunity to be those living alarms, those alarms that can encourage the helpless, that can help raise the fallen. God’s put His Word in our mouths for the salvation of others. We have the responsibility to use anything we can to issue the alert: messages, images, voice notes, movies and songs—anything goes to carry the loving and encouraging message from God. The word “alarm” can scare us, but the work of an alarm is to keep us safe. “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him and be strong in your faith. I, you too, have the duty to raise my voice, sound the alert, and activate the greatest alarm in history—Christ is the way, the truth, the life—and He will return soon for everyone who loves him.
But we want to avoid false alarms, fear-driven headlines, and speculation. Instead, we should have an urgency that is rooted in hope, not hype, to lift up Christ, not just signs. We all are God’s messengers. Fill us with the urgency to share Your “alarming” good news in any and every way that we can.
In life, alarms and warnings serve to awaken us to potential danger and prompt us to take action in the physical world and also in our spiritual lives. Just as ignoring a fire alarm can lead to catastrophic consequences, disregarding and ignoring God’s warnings can have devastating spiritual repercussions. We may be tempted to dismiss these warnings for various reasons—we are too caught up in our own plans, we fail to perceive the potential harm, and we put our desires over God’s will, even when we know our actions are sinful. Warnings are protective, like guardrails on a dangerous road. God’s warnings through the Holy Spirit and His Word, are a loving guide to steer us away from spiritual danger and toward the path of life and freedom. Ignoring God’s alarms lead to consequences, but He always offers a path to forgiveness and restoration through repentance and faith in Jesus. God’s warnings come in various forms: a challenging word from a friend; a story from a sermon; a still, small voice inside letting me know it’s not right; and the truth of God’s Word. We have a choice to listen to God’s warning or to ignore the warning.
God’s warnings and alarms–like the carbon monoxide alarm–are for our own good and protection. But we don’t always want to hear what God says, do we? What are some reasons we might choose to ignore God’s warning? First, we get set on our own agenda. We have a plan and we’re “gonna stick with it”, even if it’s not necessarily God’s plan. Second, the situation might appear to be good. In our own understanding we can’t possibly see how anything bad could result. Third, we often just want to do what we want to do, not what God wants us to do, even if deep down inside we know what we’re doing is sinful. Is God warning you of a danger in your life? Are you listening? Let’s not be foolish. Let’s listen to God’s warnings. Let’s trust Him and not ourselves.
When smoke alarms start going off in the house, we jump up to look for fire and discover there wasn’t one. It was a false alarm. Some are having false alarms that are causing us to jump up, suddenly awake. You are looking at things and people differently because you can’t shake this feeling of a peculiar sense of something, yet you can’t explain it. It is a false alarm, and it is going off around you yet you’re not in any danger. Could it be a warning before destruction? Could it be God stopping you in your tracks before you step into enemy territory? Could it be the false alarm to wake you up before you sleep with sin in your mind? God tried to tell you but you wouldn’t listen. So He allowed the ‘almost real’ accident to shake you, it was a false alarm. Sometimes we miss the warnings and the signs. Sometimes we feel coming danger, but we go on, thinking we can handle it. We can see the signs of, ‘detour,’ ‘turn here,’ yet we keep going only to get to a sign that says, “Road closed.” Then we must turn around [back up with a camp trailer and in the dark of night]. But this time, you must go back through everything you went through (now going the wrong way) just to get back to the right road (the right way). Is it worth it, knowing I can’t get back the time I’ve lost? And do you know when we ignore the signs the most? It’s when things are going good. We ignore the signs and false alarms because we don’t think anything bad can happen. Here is your warning… Listen to the warnings and pay attention to the false alarms. God doesn’t warn me to punish me but He warns me to protect me.
Part of being a faithful Christian includes sounding the alarm about the end-times and the fulfillment of prophecies. We are living in the last days; Jesus is coming soon, maybe in our lifetime, and time is running out. When I think about it, I realize again the urgency.
There is certainly a need to point out to people the signs of Jesus’ soon return. Yet often we seem more excited to focus on the signs of His coming than on sharing with the world who is coming and why that is good news! He is coming to bring home His redeemed friends and restore them to His heavenly home for unceasing fellowship, joy, and love in holiness and glory!
We must sound the alarm that Jesus is coming soon. We are to give the trumpet a certain sound! One of hope and readiness, not fear. A sound that inspires confidence in Jesus and His Word, rather than anxiety about a world that is falling apart and can’t provide any solutions. The true emergency that calls for a real and loud alarm to be sounded is not so much that Jesus is coming soon, but of being unaware that He is already knocking on the doors of our hearts, waiting to be let in.
God, thank you for Alarms!