These words in the book of the Prophet Isaiah have been especially significant to me for many years. I came across them for the first time shortly after becoming a Christian 25 years ago, and they caught my attention, because of the eagle metaphor.

Eagles have been my favorite animal from an early age. Childhood friends would list puppies and horses as their ideal representative of the animal kingdom, but my heart placed the king of all birds on top of the list.

It all started when my mom brought home an article about eagles when I was about 9 years old. She had seen it in a magazine and painstakingly copied it word by word on a sheet of notebook paper. I sat down beside her, curious about the content as she carefully unfolded the sheet. She then proceeded to dramatically read a beautiful story about an eagle in the face of adversity. I cannot recall the details but remember that the message captured my heart. When she finished, she folded the paper and handed it to me. Looking me in the eye, she held my hand and said:

“You are my eagle. Remember that. The sky is your limit. You can do anything and go anywhere, as long as you persevere and work hard.”

Ever since that day, I have collected eagle statues, eagle pictures, and eagle stories. I have watched the Eagle Cam at Berry College and named my ministry “Soaring with Him” – inspired by the timeless words in the 40th chapter of the book of Isaiah. It’s a borderline obsession.

For centuries, these majestic birds have fascinated and inspired humanity with their brilliant survival and leadership characteristics. The bald eagle is the symbol of our country, its image engraved in the national seal, certain flags and monuments. In some religions, high-soaring eagles are believed to touch the face of God. Mexican legend holds that the Aztecs so revered the bird that they built Tenochtitlan, their capital, at the spot where an eagle perched on a cactus.

While sharing a friend’s prayer request with my husband this morning, I remembered an aspect in the eagles’ makeup that sets them apart from other birds: the way they face storms.

If you were to see an area filled with birds when a storm approaches, you would see two distinct reactions between an eagle and all other feathered creatures. While other birds would try to flee or hide, eagles would take off, in the direction of the dark clouds. Fearlessly, the eagle would fly into the fierce winds, using the storm current to rise higher quickly. The pressure of the storm is used to help them glide without using their energy as their wings’ unique design allows them to lock in a fixed position amid the violent storm winds.

The eagle instinctively knows it: Just past the storm, in the high heavens, there is peace and security. It is the perfect hiding place.

The eagle instinctively knows it: Just past the storm, in the high heavens, there is peace and security. It is the perfect hiding place.
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My friend is facing a storm which my husband and I know well. As she shared her struggles with me, I could hear the uncertainty, fear and confusion in her voice. “I thought I was doing God’s will.” “I don’t understand why the door will not open.” “Should we move? Should we change something?

”Oh, how well do I know the feeling!

Maybe you do too. You may have done everything, obeyed God and said yes to His direction, blindly trusting that He would come forth with the deliverance, provision or healing. Yet, months and sometimes years go by, and the storm does not seem to die down. You certainly do not seem to be rising above it either.

Can I encourage you today, dear reader? I soar “on wings like eagles,” joyfully and above some vicious, fierce storms.

Unemployment? Check. Cancer? Check. Betrayal? Check. Regardless, I can testify that God indeed used each storm to shake my faith so that fragments of unbelief would fall out. Then, as I courageously locked my wings, determined not to give up, He rose me up. Above each tempest… and in His time. Every.single.time.

Strength indeed comes to those who patiently and wholeheartedly trust in the Lord.

God uses storms to shake our faith so that fragments of unbelief may fall out. As we courageously lock our wings, determined not to give up, He raises us up. Above each tempest... and in His time.
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This article was originally published in Patricia’s column for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Saturday – August 3, 2019.

The post Learn from the Eagle: the Challenger of the Storms {The Atlanta Journal Constitution} appeared first on Soaring With Him Ministries.

Several months went by when one of the farmer’s friends stopped to visit. While observing his friend’s barnyard, he was dumbfounded when he watched the king of all birds pecking around like a chicken, refusing to fly. Since it had learned to behave like a chicken, it was no longer an eagle. “Still,” he told his friend, “certainly this bird has the heart of an eagle. Allow me to show him who God designed him to be.”

The man took the eagle to the top of the house, urging him: “You are an eagle! Stretch your wings and fly!” But the eagle was afraid of his unknown self, and thus quickly jumped down to his familiar surroundings. But the man was determined. He took the bird to a mountaintop, where he lifted the eagle high above his head and said: “You belong to the sky! Soar, my friend!”

The eagle looked up, then down again, quickly jumping to the ground. But the man would not give up. Day after day he repeated the exercise, as the eagle became less frightened by the heights. Finally, one day the man lifted the eagle straight toward the sun, and it happened that the bird began to tremble. Slowly, he stretched his wings, and with a triumphant cry, soared away into the heavens.

I’ve been a collector of eagle stories since my early teens. Some of them are true facts about this majestic bird, and others are simply tales that use the eagle’s makeup to illustrate a point.

In my favorite passage of Scripture, the prophet Isaiah used the imagery of a soaring eagle at the end of one of the most inspiring chapters in the Old Testament, where the prophet describes the greatness and inscrutability of almighty God.

When I read this eagle story for the first time, I could not help but think of how much my environment helped determine what I believed about myself during my formative years. I was blessed to be raised by parents who instilled in me the idea that I could accomplish anything, so long as I worked hard and kept my eyes fixed on my objectives. They encouraged me to face my fears and never back up from my beliefs. I am forever grateful for that.

But as I grew up, and as it often happens, I started listening to other voices. Voices that told me I was not good enough. Voices that laughed at my dreams and mocked my principles. Voices that called me away from a fulfilling and fruitful destiny.

Without realizing, I became insecure, fearful and anxious. The fearlessness and determination which, in my youth, filled my heart with the assurance that I could do anything, was replaced by a constant feeling of inadequacy and co-dependence. Even years of therapy did not erase the mighty voices that tried to silence the eagle in me. And so, I lived like the eagle in the barnyard for many years – designed for the heavenly heights, and yet content with a lowly life. Until God found me, took me to the mountaintop and started showing who he designed me to be.

I cannot help but wonder how many eagles are reading this column today, realizing that there has to be more to life than what they experience. Realizing that they have settled for a life that is far from what God has intended, either by compromising their beliefs and integrity by hanging out in the barnyard for way too long, or by refusing to acknowledge that they need help to come out of their current circumstances.

If that is you today, why don’t you give the Friend a chance to show you the heights of his wisdom, glory, mercy, forgiveness and grace? Maybe it’s time you believe in who he says you are: an eagle, beautifully designed to soar. Would you allow him to be the wind beneath your wings?

This article was originally published in Patricia’s column for The Atlanta Journal Constitution on Saturday, October 28, 2017.

God designed you to be a soaring eagle. But are you living as a chicken in a barnyard?
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The post Are You an Eagle Living in a Barnyard? {The Atlanta Journal Constitution} appeared first on Soaring With Him Ministries.