When the Eaton Canyon fire broke out on Jan. 7, 2025, evacuation orders reached Altadena’s east side at 7:26 p.m., but the west side, where all 17 confirmed deaths occurred, didn’t receive alerts until 3:25 a.m., hours after flames spread. Officials acknowledged the alert system’s failure and investigated why some were missing while millions not in danger received false alarms due to a software glitch. Los Angeles County, now working with Genasys, FEMA, and the FCC, warned that such missteps create confusion and risk future alerts being ignored, endangering lives when every second counts.
Where do we turn when human systems fail us in our darkest hour? Have we built security systems run by fallible humans, powered by breakable technology, and dependent on networks that go dark precisely when we need them? Do we demand better technology, or do we remember there's a God who never sleeps, never glitches, and whose warnings have never failed throughout history?
Our Evolving Need to Be Alerted to Emergencies
From ancient watchmen sounding ram’s horns on city walls to AI-enhanced systems pinging our phones in seconds, the mission never changes: wake people up before it’s too late. As disasters intensity, the U.S. government races to upgrade its Emergency Alert System with faster, smarter, more accurate warnings. Modern alerts have saved thousands during hurricanes and wildfires, rescued abducted children through Amber Alerts, and warned entire regions instantly when cell towers failed.
Soon, AI may predict disasters before they strike, analyzing weather patterns, social media, and infrastructure data in real time. We should be grateful for tools that save lives. What hasn’t changed in thousands of years? People still need to listen to the warnings. Whether you’re a watchman with a horn or a government with satellites, will anyone hear the warning in time?
The One Warning We Can’t Afford to Miss
Even our best systems fail spectacularly. In 2018, a false missile alert terrorized Hawaii for 38 agonizing minutes. A hacker once hijacked Montana's emergency system to broadcast a zombie apocalypse. No matter how sophisticated, human alerts remain fragile. But here's what every emergency alert reveals: they can only warn, never save. They point to danger but cannot deliver us from it. And that limitation exposes a deeper truth, one that reaches far beyond our physical safety.
There is wisdom in heeding evacuation warnings that protect our bodies. Yet there's an infinitely more urgent alert we cannot afford to ignore—the return of Jesus Christ. This isn't just another event in history; it's the moment that splits eternity in two. When He returns, every person will face their eternal destination: everlasting life with God or eternal separation from Him. No software updates. No second chances. No 38-minute corrections.
Jesus didn't merely warn about hurricanes and wildfires but of His return—the ultimate storm alert. We’ve mastered reading weather patterns, decoding red skies at sunset to predict tomorrow’s forecast, yet remain blind to the signs of the times unfolding before us (Matthew 16:2). This isn’t your typical emergency broadcast that gives you hours to prepare. This is the alert that overrides every earthly timeline:
"You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him." - Luke 12:40
No advance notice. No countdown. No snooze button. To ignore a tsunami warning risks your physical life. To ignore this warning risks your eternal life, a consequence that makes every earthly disaster pale in comparison.
Prophets Before Push Alerts: God’s Warnings Still Stand
Long before governments had emergency alert systems, God had His own—prophets who sounded divine alarms calling people to repentance and readiness. In Noah’s time, life went on as usual: weddings, work, family dinners. People lived unaware that “every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time” (Genesis 6:5). Noah, “a preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5), warned of coming judgment. Despite mockery, he built the ark and kept sounding the alarm. Only eight people listened. The prophets issued divine warnings. Yet Scripture laments:
“They have eyes but do not see and ears but do not hear.” - Ezekiel 12:2
God told Ezekiel: “I have made you a watchman…give them warning from me” (Ezekiel 33:7). If the watchman stayed silent, he was responsible for the bloodshed. But if he warned, but people ignored him, their destruction was their own responsibility. Isaiah cautioned against trusting political alliances over God: “This iniquity shall be to you like a breach ready to fall…whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant” (Isaiah 30:13).
Sound familiar? Are we tempted today to trust emergency systems and governments more than the Lord and God’s Word— “therefore keep watch” (Matthew 25:13). Daniel prophesied of “a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations” (Daniel 12:1). Yet, deliverance comes for those whose names are written in the Book of Life, whose sins are forgiven and ready for His coming. These aren’t just ancient stories. They’re God’s early alert system—some fulfilled, others yet to come. The heads-up rings clear through millennia: Be ready.
We Don’t Just Need a Warning, We Need a Savior
Emergency alerts are like lighthouses. They warn you of danger and urge you to change course. But when the storm hits, warnings become worthless. You need a lifeboat. God is both a lighthouse and a lifeboat. He warns before judgment and rescues His people. Human systems can tell you a hurricane is coming. They cannot stop it from destroying your house. They can alert you to a wildfire. They cannot shield you from the flames. At best, they point you toward an exit if one exists.
God doesn’t just point to safety. He is safe. “The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in Him” (Nahum 1:7). God delivers—sometimes from the storm, sometimes through it, always according to His purposes, not our blueprints.
When Pharaoh's army trapped Israel at the Red Sea, no emergency alert could have helped. But God split the waters (Exodus 14:21-22). When Daniel faced hungry lions, no evacuation route existed. But God shut their mouths (Daniel 6:22). When three Hebrew men were thrown into a furnace, no fire department could respond. But Jesus walked through the flames with them (Daniel 3:25). We're grateful for weather tracking, early warnings, and rescue teams. But when every human system fails, there remains One who never does.
"Some trust in chariots and some in horses [or emergency alert systems], but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. " - Psalm 20:7
When Human Systems Fail, God Doesn't
Brother Andrew smuggled Bibles into Communist countries by praying, "Lord, make seeing eyes blind." Border guards inexplicably overlooked forbidden materials sitting in plain sight. "He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways" (Psalm 91:11).
Richard Wurmbrand, Voice of the Martyrs, endured 14 years in Communist prisons for preaching Christ. Tortured and starved, he testified: "Alone in my cell, cold, hungry, and in rags—I danced for joy every night." When human cruelty reached its peak, God's presence sustained him.
Gladys Aylward led over one hundred orphans across war-torn China as Japanese bombs fell around them. No evacuation plan existed. No rescue team was coming. "I wasn't brave. I just knew God had called me, and He would make a way." He did.
Sudan's "Lost Boys" walked for months through desert warfare, watching friends die from hunger and bullets. No emergency alerts warned them. No aid organizations reached them. Yet many survived by singing hymns and quoting Scripture: "We had no food, but we had God. He was our refuge in that wilderness."
Ukrainian believers today report miraculous protection in active war zones. One pastor said, "God remains when we can't depend on electricity, banks, or borders. He is the only safe place."
These aren't feel-good stories. There's evidence that God's plan stands firm when every human system collapses. He is not only a refuge from the past; he's a living refuge right now.
The Only Alert That Prepares You for Eternity
Warning systems fail. God doesn’t. His deliverance never depends on cell towers, satellites, or software updates. So, we must stay alert—not just for hurricanes, but for the sound of the trumpet when Jesus returns. It could be this week, this hour, this breath. "Be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him" (Luke 12:40). We obsess over tracking storms that remain spiritually drowsy toward the eternal moment that changes everything. The greatest danger isn’t what happens to your body in a disaster, but the condition of your eternal soul that outlasts every earthly catastrophe. Physical death ends. Spiritual death doesn't. Paul encourages us to
"Be on your guard, stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong."- 1 Corinthians 16:13
More than any emergency alert, our spirit must be tuned to heaven's frequency—always listening, always ready. The Eaton Canyon tragedy exposed a harsh truth: when the lights go out, cell towers collapse, and the emergency alerts fail to arrive, there is still One whose voice penetrates every disaster, whose presence never buffers, whose rescue never depends on human systems. The question isn't whether our technology will fail us again; it will. So, who do we truly trust when a crisis strikes? The most vital alert system isn’t on our phones. We cannot discern the Holy Spirit’s whisper apart from the steady heartbeat of Scripture. Like a compass lost without true north, our hearts falter when disconnected from God’s Word. But when we dwell in its pages, the Spirit’s voice becomes a gentle wind, softly calling, urging us onward, whispering: Are you ready?
A Prayer for Emergency Situations
Lord,
When emergency alerts fail and human systems collapse, you remain. Thank You for being our “ever-present” unshakable refuge when "mountains fall into the sea" (Psalm 46:1, 2). Be our lighthouse in the storm and our lifeboat in the flood.
Forgive us for trusting smartphones more than Your Word, governments more than Your sovereignty, technology more than Your power. Wake us from spiritual slumber. Make us ready for Your return, not just the next disaster alert.
When every system fails, you stand eternal. In You alone, our trust is anchored.
In Jesus' name, Amen.
“The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid.” - Deuteronomy 31:8
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