Early Warning System?

In 1st Timothy chapter 1, we see the importance of being connected to Christ:
5 Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, 6 from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, 7 desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm.

As Christians, we so often know the right thing to do, but we don't do it - sometimes we think we know best; other times, we can discern that God is leading in a particular manner, or directing us to resist a certain plan of action, and we just ignore His Spirit as He speaks to our hearts as He activates our conscience. 

If we are sensitizing our conscience by devotion to the word of God, meditating on the Scriptures and entering into consistent prayer, then we can avoid danger to our spiritual life, walking in victory over the impulses that would cause us to walk outside of the will of God.

In Acts 17, we can observe an attitude toward the Scriptures that can be very helpful as we prevent spiritual decline:
10 Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. 12 Therefore many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men.

It is still considered to be an unbelievable astronomical event - a meteor hurtling toward earth at 46,000 miles per hour, heading downward over the Ural Mountains of Russia before exploding 15 miles above the earth.  NASA estimates that it weighed about 10,000 tons and was 55 feet in diameter.  The LA Times reports it is the largest space rock to enter the planet’s atmosphere since a 1908 incident in Tunguska, Siberia.   The meteor released an estimated 500 kilotons of energy, the force of 20-30 atomic bombs, creating a blast that broke windows and left hundreds of people with injuries.   There were around 4000 buildings damaged, at a value of 1 billion rubles, or 33 million dollars.

And, it came with no warning.

In Alabama, we have become quite familiar with the severe weather warning systems - wall-to-wall media coverage, tornado sirens, and weather radios are common in our area, which sees its share of storm warnings.   But, detecting a meteor and then spreading the word is actually quite a daunting task.

According to the Daily Mail, Russia is said to have one of the most high tech early warning systems of any nation on Earth.  Many are wondering why the nuclear superpower was not able to detect the incoming object itself. 

Experts from the Russian Nuclear Forces Project have attempted to explain how the rock could have slipped through the net.

The group, which offers definitive information on the state of Russia's nuclear arsenal and intercontinental weapons systems, published an image how far into space the country's radar systems can penetrate.

The Russian-based group claims that despite the size of the object, early warning radars 'never had a chance' - particularly since they were never designed to detect rocks hurtling in from outer space. 

Basically, Russian radar is trained to see ballistic missiles, not meteor from outer space.  A spokesman is quoted as saying that "The Dnepr radar in Mishelevka might have detected the meteorite if it looked up, but it didn't - as an early-warning radar its mission is to search the narrow strip of space just above the horizon, which a ballistic missile would cross if it ever comes.

'They don't (and shouldn't) much care about anything else. These radars are not supposed to search the entire sky on a continuous basis - it would be a waste of energy and would decrease the effective detection range."

The LA Times also pointed to the futility of early detection attempts:

“It’s hard to find small objects in the daylight until they get closer,” said Paul Chodas, a scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, during a teleconference on Friday. “An asteroid needs to be found against a dark sky.”

Caltech astronomer Mike Brown said a region might have one to two hours of warning if a meteor was detected at night.

But with astronomers already monitoring hundreds of other celestial objects, it might be a difficult task.

“You would have to look everywhere,” Brown said.

While technology cannot detect all the threats to our natural security, we do have a powerful friend who can help us detect threats to our spiritual well-being - He is the Holy Spirit, and He can help us to read the danger signs in our own lives.   We cannot ward off all the threats that come into our lives and cannot prevent all the negative circumstances we encounter - and we wouldn't want to, right?   Since the trying of our faith produces patience.   

But, we can learn to discern danger signs.   If we are walking in disobedience, and the Spirit of God is trying to get our attention, then we may be in for some reaping of what we have sown.    If we make decisions that run counter to the principles of God's Word and stray off His path for our lives - if we listen, He'll get us back on course.  Being proactive by praying about decisions and following His precepts can prevent us from walking into trouble.  And, our "early warning system" can clue us in to things that are just not right.  And, if we miss it, He can provide us a course correction.   But, we're better off if our discernment kicks in and our spiritual antenna detect those spiritual meteors that come to steal, kill, and destroy our lives.