I suddenly felt isolated, alone, totally cut off from the outside world. I needed to let someone know of my situation, but how? SOS came to mind, but no one uses morse code anymore. At least I don’t think so. SOS used to be the internationally recognized distress signal for boats, a call for help sent out in hopes that someone nearby would receive the SOS and respond. Although eventually replaced with “mayday” as the official maritime cry for help, today SOS is still synonymous with someone in dire distress being in need of a timely rescue, whether at sea or on land.

Full disclosure – I was in my own home when this happened. Alone, yes, but that is normal as I now live alone. So why did I suddenly feel so isolated that I thought an SOS was the proper and necessary response to my situation? I discovered that my cell phone was dead. Immediately, I felt the need to communicate with someone, anyone – but I couldn’t. My cell phone was dead and I no longer have my trusted land line. What if someone is trying to reach me? I wondered. How can I reach someone, anyone, without going physically to where they are?

Now that I couldn’t reach anyone by phone or text, the need to make contact with another person became overwhelming. I felt I should at least let someone know that I couldn’t be reached, but ironically that would require me being able to “reach” someone. Normally I would accomplish that by calling or texting but that was not an option at the moment. Hence the thought of an SOS or maybe smoke signals? drum beats? snail mail? (although, by the time anyone would receive my written communication, certainly I would have a new phone? – actually by the time anyone receives snail mail, the information contained therein is now “old news”, obsolete, no longer relevant)

I repeatedly turned my cell phone on, but each time it started the process, then said “powering off” like it had a mind of its own. My phone had been working fine earlier in the day and I had charged it earlier, so I couldn’t imagine why it wouldn’t turn on now. Was I going to need a new phone? This one seemed to have a mind of its own, turning itself off each time I turned it on. I had no idea how long my phone had been turned off, since I didn’t turn it off myself. Apparently, my phone turned itself off without consulting me first, without so much as a friendly heads up or even a polite “peace out.”

So you can imagine my surprise and shock when I discovered I had been disconnected from the outside world for an unknown period of time. This was very unsettling to me, as was the prospect of being incommunicado overnight alone and the possibility that I might need a new phone. In the meantime, I headed for evening church, taking my dead cell phone with me of course (out of habit) although it would do me no good in an emergency.

And emergency driving conditions are exactly what I encountered on my drive home from church. It had been sunshine and white fluffy clouds when I went into church, but when I came out it was a torrential downpour that showed no signs of abating. As I made my way home, I could barely see the cars around me or the lanes at times, even with the windshield wipers working overtime. Thankfully, traffic was moving very slowly, with some vehicles pulled off to the side under the overpasses.

In situations like this one, I am glad I have my Triple A auto club membership. They are always just one phone call away with reliable roadside assistance. I have called them many times over the years and they have always come to my rescue. But now the irony was not lost on me as I navigated this storm, that should I need Triple A’s help, I had no way to contact them. My phone refused to turn on and stay on.

And where have all the phone booths gone? Are public pay phones a thing of the past? I still see phone booths in movies, but then those are old movies. Then I began to wonder, do gas stations even have phones for people to use? Do businesses have land lines anymore? I think of all the years I drove before cell phones. We all did. And somehow we all survived. But at the moment, I am seriously questioning how in the world we all managed to travel and get where we were going and meet up successfully without cell phones. How did we do it? I am trying to remember.

A cell phone would have totally changed the iconic movie “An Affair to Remember” – but cell phones have changed many things, I realize now, as I am without mine for the moment. And in these moments I feel, as I said, totally cut off from outside communication, isolated and alone. (when you live by yourself, you don’t have someone else’s cell phone to rely on) This surprised me. It’s not like I’m on a deserted island. Why do I feel so disconnected without my cell phone? I don’t remember ever feeling this way when all we had were land lines.

However, in those times when I find myself most alone, I also find I experience most vividly my Heavenly Father’s presence with me. I feared being cut off from communication with the world around me, but it’s precisely in those moments that I discover the comfort and peace that God’s constant presence abiding with me brings. God receives every SOS I send out. He doesn’t miss a one.

“I called on Your name, O Lord, from the depths of the pit. You heard my plea: ‘Do not close Your ears to my cry for relief.’ You came near when I called You, and You said, ‘Do not fear.’ ” (Lamentations 3:55-57)

“O Lord my God, I called to You for help and You healed me. O Lord, You brought me up from the grave; You spared me from going down into the pit.” (Psalm 30:2-3)

“I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.” (Psalm 40:1-2)

“In my distress I called to the Lord, and He answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and You listened to my cry.” (Jonah 2:2)

God’s word promises me that He hears each one of my desperate cries for help, each SOS I send out when I am alone and afraid. His response?

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10)

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.” (Isaiah 43:2)

“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)

every SOS I send out is received and responded to by my Heavenly Father – I am never disconnected, separated or cut off from His presence or from His love or from His continuous watchcare over me –

“for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6)

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate me from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)

sincerely, Grace Day