Finding My Eagle

Childhood Sundays

As a child, my parents took me and my two sisters to church. It was a Baptist church in Sandy. We would go to church, and the process was the same each Sunday. We would start in the service, then leave to go to the church room, where a parent would teach us a story from the Bible, normally one that showed Jesus doing miracles, and occasionally an Old Testament story, likely to be creation.
All through my childhood there was a repetition and a heartbeat of the same story theme.

The Three J’s and the Paper Planes

I had good friends, James and Joseph, and we were the three J’s. Like most young boys, we would do some silly things in and around the church. One of the things we would do was fold up service sheets into paper planes and throw them as high as we could, with the ambition of reaching the roof.
This was something we never managed to achieve, but we would always attempt it every Sunday.

Dreaming of Flight

We had friends outside the church who lived on a big property, and their son owned a paramotor. The inquisitive me wanted to know what it was like. I imagined it to be like my paper plane’s freedom.
I spoke to him one day, asking what it feels like up in the sky.
He replied, “It’s like I’m an eagle soaring through the sky without a worry in the world. When I’ve had a tough day, I can leave it all behind me and fly through the sky.”
Ever since that conversation, I have always wanted to know what it was like. I often feel restricted about where I can go at the drop of a hat. Recently, I’ve been feeling more restricted than ever, and something about my work and my free time has pushed me to feel that way

Learning to Soar

And so, next year I am going to have lessons in paramotoring. What does that entail? It means learning to control a 23-metre kite on the ground, making sure I am comfortable with how to control it, and then strapping on an engine to my back with a propeller and going into the sky as high as an eagle.
I have been thinking about how this fits in with my faith journey and where I want to go, I feel this fits perfectly,
“But those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.”
Isaiah 40:31 (NRSV)

Waiting, but Not Idle

Lt. Colonel Allen Satterlee writes:
“The message of Isaiah 40 was meant to encourage them during the coming captivity, during their time of waiting. Isaiah reminded them that this was a time of ‘waiting on the Lord.’ This was not the idling away of time that marks the summer breaks for school children. It was to be a time of active anticipation, of looking for what will happen next…

…Waiting on the Lord is never wasted time. It is when we cultivate our faith through the reading and study of God’s Word, when we learn the lessons of how we ought to pray, when we employ our gifts and efforts in the service of God and others.
Why is waiting even necessary? Because God’s timing is not our timing.”
He continues:
“When finally the waiting is over, God promises renewed strength. To illustrate this, Isaiah gives us pictures of an eagle, a runner, and pedestrian travel. In chapter 40, the word ‘faint’ or a related term is used five times. He knows that the reader may feel exhausted under the burden of Babylonian exile and during this prolonged period of waiting.
But the promise is given that they will ‘renew their strength’ by mounting up ‘with wings as eagles.’ The term ‘mount up’ literally means to rise to another level. As the eagle is able to soar to spectacular heights on wind currents, the child of God will gain new heights by being uplifted by the Spirit of God.”

Learning to Let Go

I was recently asked to forgive the wrongdoing of a situation out of my control that has been living in my head and life for 12 months. Yes, I can and have forgiven, but it’s important not to forget. I am still looking for justice, but what I will not do is allow this situation to live rent-free in my mind.
Now that I am free, I need to find my eagle and soar,
2026 is that year. I turn 40, and it will be a year of trying new things. God never wanted us to solely soar like an eagle, He wants us to be lifted, and this only comes from the Spirit of the Lord.

Let me leave you with this:
What are you doing to lift your spirit to the Lord?
Are you folding paper planes, flying kites, or dedicating your time to God and allowing Him to lift you to new heights?

With blessings,

Joel