Dear Friend,
Today I woke up to an intermittent faint squeak, like muted shoes chirping on a wooden basketball floor. Why are my kids playing basketball so early in the morning? Wait, they don’t play basketball… What is going on here?
My body, struggling to keep up with my sluggish brain, finally gave me enough energy to roll over in bed and look around the room. Blinking the scene into focus, I found the source of the faint squeak: a delicate grey bird, no larger than a fist.
What? What are you doing here? How did you get here? I silently questioned. But getting answers was not the most urgent matter. The priority was to release the bird from my house.
As I approached the slider to open it wide, the tiny creature flew to the opposite side of the room and struggled to perch on a book, finally settling on the corner of my desk.
Hey, little guy, the window’s that way. I looked from him to the open sliding glass door. He stayed put.
And chirped.
Hmm, I wonder how he’ll find his way out. He can’t be enjoying himself here. Without food or water, this won’t be a fun place for long.
Maybe I’ll just ignore him and he’ll figure it out. I slid into the bathroom.
Then the chorus broke out. Excuse me, you say. There was a heavenly choir?
No, a more earthly one.
This little birdy’s friends outside had heard his cries and began to call to him. A chorus of insistent chirps increased in frequency. Come, they cried. We’re out here! This is the way out! Join us and be free!
My little friend hesitated. It was warm in the house all night. No rain. No predators.
But also no friends, no chorus, no food.
No freedom.
His friends cried again: Come! Be free!
And with that, he flew out the window to join his community.
I exhaled.
All is well.
He’d been here probably since 11pm the night before when I’d slipped out to make sure I’d turned off the water hose. Curiosity had brought him in, but he hadn’t counted on getting trapped inside.
How like us. Enticed away by something glittery, shiny. The promise of escape. Just a little hop through this window probably won’t hurt, we reason.
Until the window gets slammed shut.
And there we are. Trapped.
What once looked like freedom turned into an ensnarement.
And there we are. For a night.
Or a fortnight.
Or four score and twenty.
Dealing with the consequences of our choices.
A dark night of the soul.
.
.
.
But God.
And His chorus…
Out of his lovingkindness and endless mercy, He opens a window that looks firmly locked.
Confused and a bit comfortable in our prison, we don’t know what to do with the open window.
Then come the friends.
Chirp!
Huh?
Chirp chirp!
Chirp chirp, chirp chirp chirp chirp!
We stay put.
Come outside and be free!
Leave the addiction! The distraction!
Leave the self-soothing! The self-loathing!
Chirp!
Depression isn’t your home!
Come out of the cave into the sunlight!
Chirp chirp!
The past is over!
Today is a new day!
We’re all here to support you!
Be free!
Hesitant, we wonder if freedom is an illusion or if it’s real. But we are hungry. And thirsty. It’s been a long time since anything really satisfied.
So we hop toward the window.
Then inspired with hope, we take to wing. Following the Voices of the Free. Thank God!
With love,
Melana
Ponder. Pray. Practice.
In the trapped bird story, do you identify more with the trapped bird, or the friends calling someone “out of the cave and into the light”?
Have you ever felt trapped by your previous choices? What was the result?
The Bible lovingly tells us the truth, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray” (Isaiah 53:6). In other words, we’ve sinned (missed the mark) and wandered off from God’s best for us. As the Good Shepherd, Jesus leaves the 99 to come searching for us (Luke 15:3-7). Describe a time when you felt God calling you to turn around (repent) and come to the safety of his presence, or perhaps He’s calling you now?
Have you ever had a friend pull you out of the doldrums, “speak the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15), or raise a warning flag about one of your choices? Spend some time thanking God for the kindness he showed you through this friend. Pray for that friend.
Think about your friends right now and what they are walking through. Does anyone need a bit of loving truth and/or encouragement right now? Ask God to inspire you. What do they need? A meal? A phone call? A walk in the park? A visit? An act of service, like mowing their lawn or watching their kids? Prayer together?