Sound the Alarm

Jonah 1:1-3  (ESV)

When we hear the whoop of a fire engine, the wail of an ambulance, or the woo-woo of a police car, we immediately know that an emergency vehicle is on assignment—sent to deescalate danger. A house may be on fire, or someone in a home may be unresponsive and in need of urgent care. Those sounds are meant to get our attention. Something has happened. Danger is near. You need to pull over.

Although emergency vehicles did not exist in biblical times, God still had a way of sounding the alarm. He used prophets—men and women called to lift their voices like trumpets and warn the people. Jonah, too, had a divine assignment. He was called to speak a word to the city of Nineveh. Yet Jonah refused. Has God ever spoken to you and you chose to disobey? Every one of us has faced moments when we resisted God—whether through our words or our actions. Jonah’s story teaches us the importance of faithfulness to our calling and trust in God.

When we are called to sound the alarm, we must receive and release the word with grace and truth. Many of us have made the mistake of holding on to what God has instructed us to release. In my own life, I am learning to trust that whatever message God gives me can—and must—be shared with grace and truth. Every step of the journey requires trust. What are the ways God is asking you to sound the alarm? Dear Lord, help me to receive and release your words with grace and truth.