The Eagle’s Flight

By Grant Gaines

There’s an old fairy tale that begins with three eagle eggs falling from their nest and landing safely in a chicken coop. As these eagles hatched and began to grow, the other chickens noticed a stark difference between the young eagles and themselves. But rather than admiring these beautiful birds of prey, the chickens ridiculed the young eagles for their sharp talons, powerful beaks, and wide wing span.

“Look at the ugly ‘chickens’,” the jealous yard birds would say. This was the life for these eagles day after day. As the weight of the chickens’ hurtful words continued to compile on the eagles’ minds, two of the eagles finally accepted the lie that they were just ugly, good-for-nothing chickens. But not the other eagle—he believed that he was destined for much more than a life spent pecking at the ground, he actually thought he might someday soar with the birds of the air.

So from dusk till dawn as the young eagle grew, he would flap his flimsy wings as the chickens would mock his attempts to fly—“Chickens don’t fly! Look how silly he looks,” they would say to each other.

But with the stubbornness of a donkey and the spirit of an eagle, this young bird kept flapping his wings until one day a gust of wing hit his wings in just the right spot and the eagle began to fly! To the chickens amazement they watched as their “ugly chicken” climbed higher and higher doing what God had created him to do.

As silly as that story may sound, it is actually a pretty good illustration of how many of us go through life. God intended us to, “…soar on wings like eagles…” (Isaiah 40:31, NIV) through using our God-give gifts and yet we often willingly chose to settle for a life that is much less than what God had in store for us—a life as a chicken.

You know what I’m talking about, don’t you? God has blessed you with an incredible voice and yet your bathroom is the only one that is graced with the beautiful sound when you sing by yourself in the shower. God has given you the innate ability to teach the truth of the Scriptures in such an easily understood fashion and yet, because you are busy comparing yourself to Billy Graham and John Piper, you sit silent as church after church are closing their doors because they have no adequate pastor to shepherd their congregation. Or maybe God has simply blessed you with the ability to make others feel loved, but because you are afraid of rejection you always stick to your close group of friends rather than going out to talk to someone new.

Whether you are a blessed business man, a magnificent musician, or a faithful friend, God has uniquely wired each of us in such a way that we could be, “…faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms” (1 Peter 4:10, NIV) to those around us. You never need to wonder if God has given you a gift, but rather will you use the gift God has given you to extend His kingdom?

Apparently a young pastor by the name of Timothy had the same problem—he had the gift of teaching but was afraid to use it. That’s why his mentor and father-like figure, Paul, challenged Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:14 (NASB) not to, “…neglect the spiritual gift within you…” and again in 2 Timothy 1:6 (NIV) to, “…fan into flame the gift of God….”

But Paul wasn’t concerned with Timothy fanning into flame his gift of teaching simply because he was planting a new church in Timothy’s home town of Ephesus and needed a pastor—Paul knew that teaching was what God had created Timothy to do. That’s why Paul continues on in 2 Timothy 1:7 (NIV) by saying, “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.”

By living in timidity and cowering from the opportunity to use his God-given gifts, Timothy was living in a manner that was contrary to the Holy Spirit that indwelled him! Did you know that the same truth holds for you as well? When you cower away from using the gifts God has given you, you are not living by the Spirit’s power nor keeping step with the Spirit’s guidance (Galatians 5:25). God has given you a spirit of power so that you may fearlessly make His name and renown known in the unique way He designed you. He wants you to soar like a powerful eagle, not peck at the ground like a scrawny chicken.

With that in mind, I don’t want to leave you with an intangible, subjective, “go-get-‘em” type charge, I want to actually give you a practical takeaway. So as you’ll notice at the bottom of this blog there is a link that will take you to a spiritual gifts test. It’s not the only spiritual gifts test you can find but it is free, easy, and will take you about 10 minutes to complete. Your task is to take the time this week to complete the test so you may know what “flame” you need to fan. Because just like the eagle, you were born to fly!

Spiritual Gifts Test: http://www.spiritualgiftstest.com/test/adult

Comments? Questions? Suggestions?

Email me