AN EAGLE AMONG CHICKENS

The story is told of a boy who found an eagle’s egg on the forest floor. Unable to return the egg to its mother, he put it in the nest of a prairie chicken who accepted it as one of her own. Eventually the eagle hatched from its shell and grew up the community of little prairie chickens.

All his life, the eagle believed he was just another chicken. Sure, he looked different, walked different and sounded different, but that didn’t matter. He knew he was a chicken and so he did what all good chickens do. He scavenged the dirt for insects and seeds. He clucked and crackled and twitched his large white head and hid from the predators above. On occasion he would flutter his wings and hover a few feet off the ground. But no more than that, for that’s how prairie chickens were supposed to fly.

After several years among the chickens, the eagle, now much older, happened to see a magnificent bird flying far above him in the sky. With admiration he watched as this beautiful creature seemed to hang among the clouds with graceful majesty on the powerful currents of wind.

“What an extraordinary bird,” the eagle-chicken said to his fellow prairie chickens. “What is it?” “That is an eagle, the king of birds,” they replied. “But you could never be like him. You’re a chicken!” they told him. So the earth-bound eagle never gave it another thought. He lived the rest of his life and died, thinking he was nothing more than a chicken.

What a tragedy for the eagle. He was designed for greatness, built to soar—to rule the heavens. But he never got off the ground. Instead, he spent his life scratching in the dust for bugs and kernels, never even dreaming of soaring above the mountains.

It’s the story of so many—not eagles, but people. It’s what happens when we settle for a life among the chickens. We accept limitations where God never intended they should be and miss the greater purpose for which we were created.
Perhaps it’s your story. Perhaps you feel as though you were meant for something greater—a purpose far greater than what you have achieved. You have a yearning to excel beyond ordinary and to surpass a mediocre existence that has kept you grounded, dwelling among the chickens.

Daniel the Prophet is described as one who “distinguished himself above the governors and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him.” (Daniel 6:3) He was an eagle among chickens.

He lived in Babylon. In 610 BC, he was taken from his homeland of Jerusalem and forced to live among the pagans. In Daniel chapter one, we see him refusing to defile himself with the king’s delicacies and negotiated the approval of a diet more consistent with his Jewish convictions. The result was a healthier mind, a heartier countenance and the favor of his handlers. Although he had been forced from his nest, to live among chickens, this eagle refused to diminish his identity to that of a chicken.

Over the course of his life, the eagle would soar. He demonstrated excellence in everything he did. As a result, he was distinguished with such significance that even “the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm.” (Daniel 6:3) The lesson is clear. In an environment where the prevailing attitude is mediocrity; excellence brings promotion. It will take you to the next level.

Daniel’s excellence rose from a sense about himself. He knew he wasn’t a Babylonian, he knew he was an Israelite, a son of David, a child of Abraham, a member of God’s covenant people. From that awareness of his purpose he could never accept being a Babylonian. In Daniel 1:8 we read, “Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank…” It was not that he thought himself to be better, he just knew that he was created for a specific purpose. And it was this sense of purpose that empowered him to stand apart.

When you know what your purpose is, you can never settle for being something other than what you know you were created to be. The king’s delicacies will seem repulsive. On the other hand, people who have no sense of purpose will eat anything. They spend their lives trying to conform to some idea of greatness they have seen in others—or have been told by others that it is what they should do. Even if that to which they aspire is a noble thing, even if it is an achievement highly regarded and brings fame and fortune, if it does not align with one’s purpose, it’s nothing more than an eagle trying to be a chicken.

​(This is an excerpt from Gregg Johnson’s newest book, Upward! Taking Your Life to the Next Level. Look for it soon on Amazon and www.greggtjohnson.com)

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