Personal Locater Beacons
Don't turn off if you are intimidated by high technology! This is just an intro to a very important subject.

As I promised my daughter, I have obtained a personal locater beacon. This is a wonderful device for a pilot, a sailor, or an outdoorsman. The small unit comes with its own carrying pouch and a belt, including a battery good for 5 years and a certificate for a free replacement battery. It must be registered with the U.S. Government, so they know who needs to be notified if the device is ever activated. In a real emergency situation, the cover is lifted, an antenna extracted, and it is placed in the open. A local radio beacon then begins transmitting, a GPS receiver is activated, and a satellite transmitter is activated. The message sent to the satellite contains identity and exact location of the beacon to within a few feet. The government agency will immediately check my contact numbers to assure the likelihood that there is a real emergency, and dispatch search and rescue teams to that location. Wow! What security to have such a device!

Guess what? For most of my life, I have had a spiritual PLB that works even better. Far more important than my physical safety when exploring, hunting, flying, or sailing is my spiritual welfare. The "device" occupies no space at all - it is embedded in my mind. Its battery never needs replacing. It does not require a clear view of the sky. It does not need to be registered with any government agency, and its user's identity is never uncertain. In times of spiritual danger or distress, its activation time is instantaneous; and its efficacy is guaranteed. So, what is this spiritual PLB? It is prayer and submission to the Holy spirit. God promises that no temptation will be set upon us that He will not provide a way to overcome. We only need to call upon Him and then follow His way.

The only way that this PLB can be thwarted is by disuse or "failure to follow the directions provided." We only have to recognize spiritual emergencies and then put the device in action to know how to respond. If our first effort is to try to overcome on our own, we are likely to make the situation worse. If we activate the system, and then try to ignore the spiritual guidance He provides, we are doomed to failure. For the system to really be effective, we need to run drills during non-emergency times, so we can be sure the communication lines are open at our end! There is no risk of failure at His end, but we need to learn to listen to the Holy Spirit and His guidance for our lives. That listening begins with knowing His word, grows with prayers for wisdom, and matures by following, even at the cost of seeming foolish to the world about us. (I cannot begin to tell you how many times I have prayed for guidance in a dilemma, and had a scripture or song come to mind that gave clear indication of what I then knew to be the correct response.) The utility and effectiveness of this PLB, the most important one that can ever be owned, needs to be tested, exercised, and utilized until it becomes virtually the spiritual GPS for our lives. It is what He wants, and what He tells us to do in His User's Guide for the Human Soul - a.k.a. The Bible.