Considering SparrowsSample

Day 1

THE CAGED BIRD SINGS

I was on a day trip with friends in the Panamanian rainforest, enjoying an afternoon of canopy zip-lining. The day had been a ten on the fun meter but a bust on birding; the rainforest was surprisingly quiet in the heat of the afternoon. But after we turned in our gear and were walking a dusty street to nearby shops, I heard the distinct call of a parrot. I tracked the sound into an alley, to discover a gor­geous bright-green Mealy Parrot, perched in a metal cage sitting on a wooden bench. Sadly, in the unwritten rules of birding, captive birds don’t count.

In broken Spanish, I asked the boy tending the cage where he got the bird. He pointed to the nearby tree from which he had nabbed it a few days prior. The bird could practically see its old apartment from here; if I’d been under that tree just last week, the bird definitely would have counted, right? Might we bend the rules just a little?

In the book of Philippians, the apostle Paul wants us to know that a caged bird still counts. Stuck in a prison most likely in Rome, Paul isn’t in the most idyllic place to pen a letter. Furthermore, prison is a definite liability for a man called to be a world traveler for the gospel. Metaphorically, Paul’s wings have been clipped.

We might expect Paul to lament his circumstances. In fact, however, he radiates encouragement and positivity in this letter.

What has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear. (Philippians 1:12-14 NIV)

Paul’s cage doesn’t impede his witness; it amplifies it. Prison unleashes his song. It brings the message up close where the palace guard and all the other neighbors can see it, hear it, and by God’s grace, understand it.

God does the same with us. In fact, he does some of his best work in cages. Should we be surprised? Our faith is built on it. It was the Cross, the most confining moment of Jesus’s life, that secured our freedom.

It’s in the challenges of life—the confinements, the damp cell of our circumstances—that the gospel has an opportunity to shine for the benefit of those around us.

How might you embrace God’s calling today even when the light struggles to break through?