The Princess And The Eagle

The story is told of a princess in a tiny little kingdom where her father ruled with great devotion, love, and fairness. He continually told her one day she would ascend to the throne (since he had other children) and she would far succeed what he would accomplish. She had heard that since she was old enough to understand, yet now in her teens, she didn’t understand how that would be possible. She was too young to do much. She didn’t know everything, and she would even find herself fearful and depressed many times. She only saw the obstacles, her inability, lack of training, and she was unable to visualize anything else. She already felt like a failure before she even started. Her father was patient and loving and continued to encourage her to change how she perceived things, how she saw herself, and to see the possibilities. He knew if she had a different view of herself, her life, and what lay ahead of her, she’d sore beyond where he was. He knew she had ‘it’ in her to do great things.

What kept her falling short and in a dither? Her perception and thinking. Her thoughts were in the realm of the impossible. Her thoughts didn’t provide any encouragement to her because she continued hearing the world around her say it wasn’t possible. She was lost in her own cycle of thoughts saying to herself she wasn’t enough and couldn’t do anything great even though she was a princess.

But one day she watched a beautiful eagle fly over the castle and land by the window. She was shocked because she noticed many of his feathers were gone, yet he flew high. She tried to get closer to him but he flew off. She watched him sore higher than she’d seen before, and it finally dawned on her that only with God’s help could the eagle do that, especially with missing feathers. Daily she’d wait at the window to catch a glimpse of the beautiful eagle. Some days she’d see him off across the mote and hillside, and other days he’d fly closer. A month later he flew and landed by the window again. She dared not move and scare him away so she sat on her bed and quietly told him how beautiful he was, and how wonderful he flew. That’s when she realized what her father had meant. Even if obstacles are around, when you change your thinking to the possibilities and with God’s help, you can accomplish anything.

She immediately moved closer to the window and blew the eagle a kiss. As if he knew her thoughts, he wasn’t frightened off but stayed watching her, then turned and soared out over the castle grounds. She watched until he was only a speck in the sky, then sat on her bed and thought about the possibilities ahead. That’s when she discovered she wasn’t depressed. She was excited. She knew if God could give courage, strength, and power to an eagle who had lost many of his feathers, then he could do the same for her, minus the feathers of course. THAT was the day the princess changed her thinking to God’s thinking, and it literally changed her entire life and the life of the little kingdom.

The New American Standard version of Luke 6:45 says the mouth speaks from that which fills the heart. When you fill your heart with what God says, you’ll walk in God’s possibilities in this New Year.