Free As a Bird

Back during the recent winter storm when we had mostly snow, my sister in Mississippi had lots of ice. The electricity at her house was out for 4 days. A few days after the power was restored, she came home to the sounds of scratching and chirping inside the chimney. As I talked to her on the phone, I heard the scratching and chirping of the bird through the phone. It sounded so desperate! I could imagine the bird’s thoughts as he was trying to find a place of warmth and safety during the ice. The sight of the chimney must have seemed like a safe place to go. It was better than feathers being coated with ice, not being able to fly, and possibly freezing to death. But the bird went further down the chimney than it intended. It became trapped, confused, and disoriented by the darkness. It only sank deeper into the depths of the chimney.

How many of us have experienced a similar situation in which we went in a wrong direction during a difficult time? We left the shelter of the Most High God for a journey down a dark, damp dead-end chimney of the evil one. Satan is a fowler, a snarer, a bait layer of God’s human race. His tricky schemes are meant to trap and kill any who would enter his domain. Is there any hope or rescue?

Psalm 91 describes who and where rescue and security lie. Verse three says it is He who delivers you from the snare of the fowler (trapper). Verses one, two, and fifteen specifically tells us how we access God’s deliverance and protection. It’s accomplished by our dwelling with and in Him, abiding in Him, not just visiting Him occasionally. We don’t have visitation rights with the Lord. He desires habitation. We are invited to be with Him all the time. As we confess with our mouth to the LORD, “my refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust”, He delivers you from the snare of the trapper.

In verse 15, we hear what God says and does when He hears you call upon Him. He answers you, stays with you in trouble, and rescues you. And then, the most amazing revelation of all, He honors you. He doesn’t express impatience because He had to deliver you for the umpteenth time. He doesn’t ignore you for a few days until you get your act together. In fact, all you had to do was call out to Him and He bestows on you esteem, blessings, and a good name. Totally mind-blowing!! Imagine being honored for just crying out to be rescued. 

Back to the bird in the chimney…it “cried out” from the depths of that chimney. My sister and her husband opened the trap door to the chimney off their kitchen and removed the bird, carefully and thoughtfully, from its trap. The bird submitted to the rescue because it was exhausted trying to escape on its own. They were glad to set the bird free to be what it was intended to be. Good visual lesson on the reward we can experience as we submit to God’s deliverance.

Missaha Nichols