The Beacon Fires of the Armada

In the spring of 1588, Queen Elizabeth ordered a chain of hilltop beacons built across England, stretching from Plymouth to London. Each watchman had one job: keep your wood dry, your eyes on the horizon, and the moment you see the beacon to your south ignite, light yours. No one knew when the Spanish Armada would appear. Weeks passed. Some watchmen grew restless. Others doubted the fleet would come at all.

Then on July 19, a captain named Thomas Fleming spotted the first Spanish sails off the Lizard Peninsula. The southernmost beacon blazed to life. Within hours, fire leaped from hilltop to hilltop — Rame Head to Dunkery Beacon to the Mendips to the Cotswolds — until all of England knew the moment had arrived. The watchmen who had stayed faithful at their posts, who had kept their kindling dry through weeks of waiting, made the difference between a nation caught sleeping and a nation ready to respond.

Jesus tells His disciples in Mark 13 that no one knows the day or hour — not the angels, not even the Son. So He gives one command, repeated three times: Watch. Be alert. Stay awake. The master of the house will return, and He does not want to find His servants sleeping. Like those English watchmen on their darkened hills, we are not called to know the timeline. We are called to tend the flame and keep watch, so that when the signal comes, we are ready.