11 Sep The Gift of a Warning

My phone sounded loudly with the flood warning. I had been reading to my son while curled up on the couch, drinking hot cocoa together under a blanket while the rain came down loudly outside. Our imaginations, which had been whisked away with Paddington to a picnic in London, came back to reality with a start when we heard the noise.

At the time, my girls were at a friends house only a few blocks away pretending to be Beth, Laurie, and “one of Amy’s friends” in Little Women. As I went to retrieve them, I was horrified by the amount of water that was beginning to pile up on the streets in our town. Only a short time after we got home, a friend of mine posted on social media this picture of the highway near our neighborhood, which had flooded:

Photo credit: Dave Dildine on Twitter

The next few hours involved our neighborhood CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) being activated and stepping in to assist residents of our town whose homes had been flooded with water, one as much as six feet. As my husband went out with the team to help, I reflected on the plans I had made earlier that morning.

I had planned when I woke up yesterday morning to make a trip in the afternoon to a location in our area which is about 30 minutes from our home. When I got the warning on my phone, I decided not to chance the trip. When I saw the pictures of the flooded highway, I thanked the Lord for the gift of these warnings and also for protecting us from this disaster.

Urgent or Important?

Warnings are not something that should be ignored, but often they are, because we humans simply don’t take them seriously enough. Just a week ago, one of my daughters was reading about the sinking of the Titanic and shook her head incredulously, “Mom! Did you know that the Titanic got multiple warnings that there were icebergs ahead, but they didn’t turn around??” Of course, thanks to Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, I knew this little tidbit, but I decided to read more about it just out of curiosity.

Jack Phillips is a man I had never heard of before, but he played a pretty significant role in the Titanic. His job was senior wireless operator. The Wikipedia page about him reveals the following: “On the final evening, Phillips had been exceptionally busy clearing a backlog of messages caused by a wireless breakdown. His consequent failure to respond to incoming signals is cited as a principal cause of the disaster.”

As senior wireless operator, he was a primary watchman for the ship. However, when warnings about ice began to come to him, he failed to pass them on because he was distracted with transmitting a backlog of personal messages to passengers. I’m just picturing this scene:

“Sylvia in room 45, your grandmother said to tell you her surgery went well.”

“John in room 399, your mother wants to wish you a happy birthday.”

Um, Jack, there’s ice ahead. Danger. Get the word out.

“Shut up! I’m sending messengers to passengers.” (he actually did tell one ship who was warning him about ice to shut up. Kinda amazing.)

Of course, there were lots of people in charge on a ship that big, so its not all Jack’s fault, but this story left me pondering the importance of heeding warnings and the consequences of ignoring them.

Listening When God Speaks

As parents, we warn our kids about things all the time.  “Keep your hands away from the oven while its on.” “Wear your shoes when you are playing outside.” But sometimes, they are distracted by the urgency of getting the cookie right now or trying to catch the butterfly in the yard and burn their hand or cut their toe as a consequence.

We adults are often no better, it would seem. “My tooth hurts, but I don’t have time to go to the dentist.” “The gas light is on empty, but I can probably get to my destination without stopping yet.”

So far, I’ve only been talking about physical warnings and harm, but the Bible talks to us plenty about spiritual warnings as well. Hebrews 3:7-8 speaks to us about obeying God when He speaks, lest we reap the consequences: “That is why the Holy Spirit says,“Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled, when they tested me in the wilderness.”

Our response to the Word of God matters. We may read His messages, His warnings, and His instructions – but do we respond? Do we take His words to us seriously and personally? Take a moment today to consider how God is speaking to you in this season and heed His words. Don’t let what seems urgent in the moment keep you from missing that which is most important, his loving message given for your good.