Have you ever felt like an eagle among chickens? You feel so much God given potential within you yet it seems you are always in the company of chickens, running around like a chicken, instead of soaring to the skies like an eagle. As a matter of fact you start doubting what is inside of you, choosing instead to believe you are like everybody else; you are where you belong. I came across the following story, author unknown, which highlights this dilemma.
“Once upon a time, there was a large mountainside, where an eagle’s nest rested. The eagle’s nest contained four large eagle eggs. One day an earthquake rocked the mountain causing one of the eggs to roll down the mountain, to a chicken farm, located in the valley below. The chickens knew that they must protect and care for the eagle’s egg, so an old hen volunteered to nurture and raise the large egg.
One day, the egg hatched and a beautiful eagle was born. Sadly, however, the eagle was raised to be a chicken. Soon, the eagle believed he was nothing more than a chicken. The eagle loved his home and family, but his spirit cried out for more. While playing a game on the farm one day, the eagle looked to the skies above and noticed a group of mighty eagles soaring in the skies. “Oh,” the eagle cried, “I wish I could soar like those birds.” The chickens roared with laughter, “You cannot soar with those birds. You are a chicken and chickens do not soar.”
The eagle continued staring, at his real family up above, dreaming that he could be with them. Each time the eagle would let his dreams be known, he was told it couldn’t be done. That is what the eagle learned to believe. The eagle, after time, stopped dreaming and continued to live his life like a chicken. Finally, after a long life as a chicken, the eagle passed away.
The moral of the story: You become what you believe you are; so if you ever dream to become an eagle follow your dreams, not the words of a chicken.”
We who have the spirit of God are meant to soar above our circumstances. Like the eagle, we use the winds of adversity to lift our wings above the storms. However, it is important to know what is within us. It was never God’s intention that we scratch out an existence, living lives of constant defeat. In Isaiah 40:28-31 we read, “Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (KJV).
Despite what others may say about us, in the end we are what we believe we are. Let us believe God and trust what He has placed inside of us. We were meant to fly.