EAGLES SOAR!!
LET’S FLY TOGETHER
Note from Donsie…
I sent this out as a newsletter in 2003. This was written by Tommy Tenney and my side note years ago when my late husband and myself pastored a church, but I reread it today and it is so NOW .. especially for those who are feeling earthbound and in need of finding the way to SOAR through their circumstances in these days. If you have not read his book, I suggest you get it!! Hope this article blesses you just as it has blessed me again today that we are called to FlY!!…
Holy hugs from my heart to yours,
Donsie
donnatrex@yahoo.com 4/20/2011
Hi ya'll ... this was written by the author of the best selling book "The God Chasers" that I have told many of you about.. Tommy Tenney. I have added my own notes in this post too. . hope it blesses you .. may we all mount up with wings as eagles, being renewed in strength to soar to new heights. something so precious the Lord showed me years ago is that if we are in His presence up and away from worldly things and situations.. as we look down ... everything is so small. in reality.. if we continue in HIM.. we will view things differently.... Lord give us eagle eyes to see God's reality. love to you all today.. xoxo donna
Learning to Soar
"They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings as eagles" (Isaiah 40:31)
Dear Friend and Fellow God Chaser,
Have you ever wished for wings? Have you ever longed to fly with the same freedom and grace as a bird?
Did you know that God wants you have that kind of freedom?
Children often pretend to be birds or airplanes, "soaring" on wings of imagination through backyards and bedrooms. As a child, can you remember feeling the wind against your face and flapping your arms, dreaming of a day when you'd catch a gust just right and find yourself in flight? I know I did. With eyes closed and arms extended, you could transport yourself (even if just for a moment) far from familiar surroundings.
It might seem like little more than a childish daydream, but I believe it is a divinely planted desire--one that only He can satisfy. We long to soar because even as children we understand that there is more to life than the limited reach of our experience, much more than we could ever grasp with our minds. God placed a longing inside of us, the "God-shaped vacuum" that cries out within us for freedom and fulfillment. Whether we're children flapping our arms at play or adults raising our hands in worship, we're really saying the same thing: There's got to be MORE!
In the Scriptures, God speaks to this longing. He whispers to that desire within us: Do you really want to fly? I can show you how "They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles." (Is 40:31) God wants us to fly, He wants us to soar like eagles.
Do you want to soar like an eagle in your relationship with God? Are you tired of making exhausting efforts to get into His presence, only to discover that you've never even left the ground?
If you've ever watched an eagle in flight, you'll notice something. They don't seem to put a lot of effort into their flying. They don't flap their wings that much. They spend most of their time soaring. Yet somehow, even without the excruciating effort, they attain amazing heights. Eagles know instinctively that the real strength is in the winds, not in their wings.
They find an updraft, spread their wings, and stay there until they've reached their desired altitude. To the casual observer, it might appear as if they're going nowhere and doing nothing, circling pointlessly over insignificant territory. But they are going somewhere: up!
If you want to reach new heights in God, why not follow the example of the
eagle?
1. Find an updraft
2. Spread your wings
3. Stay there
Find an Updraft
No eagle has the ability to create an updraft, but all eagles have the ability to find one. Updrafts often occur in predictable places. Mountain ranges can force the air passing over them to rise. Weather patterns can cause them. Some updrafts (called "thermals") are just columns of ordinary air that have been heated and drawn heavenward.
We can't create our own "spiritual updrafts," but we can learn where to find them. Circumstances in our lives might feel like mountains sometimes. Perhaps you've dreamed of having enough faith to move those mountains. But God is really more interested in moving us beyond the mountains: He wants us to reach the place where He can lift us above those seemingly insurmountable circumstances. What seems impossible to us is always possible with God. He can take a roadblock and turn it into a runway if we'll just let Him.
"Spiritual updrafts" also occur wherever the atmosphere of worship is heated by the fire of God's presence. Times of corporate praise and worship are powerful, and they're precious opportunities to "catch an updraft" and climb to new heights. As we lift Jesus up, He lifts us up, and He draws people to Himself. The lost are often attracted to worship. They can't see the wind, they don't know where it's coming from or where it's going, but they can feel it stirring something deep within their soul.
Spread Your Wings
Finding an updraft is only part of the equation. When an eagle finds an updraft, it doesn't sit down, content that it has found what it was after. The updraft isn't the ultimate goal: it's the means to the goal. Christians often spend a lot of time looking for "good worship," but when they find it, they're content to be passive observers. When we do that, we've missed the
purpose of worship. If we don't "spread our wings," the gentle wind of the Spirit might ruffle our feathers, but it won't take us anywhere! The Spirit's wind on our face might feel good, but it's the wind on our faith that does good.
We open our wings when we open our hearts in worship. It isn't enough to merely be a spectator, a witness to the worship of others. Observers can sense the power of praise, but only participants truly benefit from it. We must be participants, responding to the current of the Spirit by spreading our wings in faith.
Stay There
Once you've entered into God's presence, don't be in any hurry to leave. Eagles will wait patiently for the updraft to take them to their desired altitude. When we learn to wait on God and stay in His presence, our literal physical altitude might not change, but our attitude will! The higher we climb in Him, the smaller our problems and distractions will seem.The noises of earth fade and the whispers of heaven fill our ears.
You can learn to fly-but the only difference between flying and falling is the position of your wings. God promises that we will mount up on wings as eagles, but only when we wait on Him!
DONSIE’S NOTES:
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.
I so love what Tommy Tenney just wrote about waiting patiently, and not being in a hurry to leave His presence or in a hurry to feel we need to DO SOMETHING to help matters out. I think that is one of the greatest problems we have today, taking things into our own hands and trying to fix it instead of taking time to just get away with the Lord to bask in His presence and to truly enjoy Him and to be quiet and wait to hear what He says to us.! I think we will be surprised one day in heaven when we see how God would have worked things out if we would have but waited on Him.. and let Him work things out instead of us (working) things out ourselves!
A neat revelation the Lord showed me years ago really helped me. While we are in that time period of waiting upon the Lord in a place of just resting (hopefully) and believing for the promises to come to pass without any human effort on our part of trying to make things happen.. for let’s say answers, or instruction, guidance.. anything we are waiting for, there is also another kind of waiting… the wonderful time of ministering to Him (waiting on Him as his beloved bride, basking at His feet and speaking words of praise and adoration to our King)
There is also the waiting that we at times forget and that is the waiting of (serving) those He calls us to minister to while we are waiting. There is a dynamic here that is so wonderful.. As we wait (serve) and wait (come into His presence worshipping Him and resting in Him while waiting for the answers) something happens. He causes us to mount up with wings as Eagles, and He renews our strength, so we can run and not become weary and will not faint in our walk!!!!!! So, there is waiting and then there is waiting.
Soar With Us
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