There is a small two bedroom cabin located off the beaten path in East Texas where I have taken prayer and writing retreats over the past thirteen years. As you drive into the entrance there are two rock columns, sandwiched between a dirt driveway, with large concrete eagles with outstretched wings perched on the top. Below on both columns are plagues with [Is 40:31] written out. “Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.”
I have spoken and written about this place often. I have nicknamed it my “prayer cabin.” The cabin is located at the back of a long winding dirt drive way. It is nestled in the midst of an oak grove on some 400 acres. It is tucked away far from the highway and hidden from the view of distractions. Rolling hills provide solace to the eyes and the soul across the 90 acre private lake hemmed in by many trees on the outer boundaries. The place was discovered and developed by a famous evangelist who had a vision that eagles (or leaders) could come to that place to be renewed and revived by the Lord. Decades later that vision is still being fulfilled.
I had the blessing to travel to that sacred sanctuary this past week with three other men who are in the ministry. It was a powerful and tremendous experience. We were there for less than twenty four hours but we met with the Lord in some very profound ways both individually and corporately.
One of the thrills for me was to spend several hours praying, seeking, and listening to the Lord along with watching a couple of eagles who live on the place. It was a powerful experience to watch the eagles sitting regally atop trees near the water’s edge. I was thrilled to watch them swooping down in the water and catching fish to eat. At times I heard their screech as they soared over the water looking for their next catch. The Lord used those moments to renew my soul.
During that brief get away the Lord inspired fresh visions, He heard our prayers and saw our tears, He spoke things of profound importance, and He saturated our souls with His presence. That little cabin is holy ground and though God is everywhere He settles on that place in very special ways.
We all need an eagle’s rest. We need a place to pull back from the world, to sit before the Lord, and meet with Him. I have sought the Lord in the mountains of California, New Mexico, Colorado, Missouri, and Arizona. I have basked in His presence at the edge of the ocean in Panama City, FL, Galveston, TX, Corpus Christi, TX, and Sea Side, OR as well as on the lake shores of Lake Sam Rayburn, Lake Palestine, and Lake Michigan. I have met with the Lord in the Pine thickets of East Texas as well as in the desert regions of Odessa, TX. Yet there is no place I have found more sacred to my soul for renewal than the Eagle’s Rest Retreat.
The carpet has been soaked with the prayers from over thirteen years. Books have been read and devoured in that primitive little living room with the large windows over looking the lake. Articles and books have been inspired and written as God anointed me to write at the old dining table next to the kitchen. My favorite thing of all is that God speaks to me in the old outdated upholstered rocking chair in the living room and in an isolated treasured spot outside over looking the lake and an open field funneling into a pine thicket where white tail deer reside.
I repeat again that everyone needs an eagle’s rest to refresh and renew the soul. Maybe you do not have access to an isolated cabin as I have been privileged to over these many years. Perhaps you do not even have the freedom in your schedule to go and get away. There are eagle’s rests all around. My next favorite place of spiritual refuge is my office at the church. The location is not nearly as important as the meeting with God. You can meet with God walking through a pasture, in the woods, around a park, while seated at a dining table, in an isolated booth in a restaurant, or in your bedroom. God wants to meet with you, to speak to you, to give you vision and direction. Will you make it priority to meet with Him?
Why do we delay in making time, carving out time, and fighting for times of solitude and isolation to wait before Him? In those times of waiting He gives us new vigor for living and service. He replenishes our emotional and spiritual resources to love and fight for kingdom advancement. He graces us with endurance to run and not quit during the race. He does all of this and more when we set aside our time and attention to rest and wait before Him.
What does it mean to wait before the Lord? It means to hope and to expect. It means to pause, slow down, and to linger in His presence. There are times when God wants us to wait for minutes, at other times it might mean for hours, and there are even times when waiting before the Lord might require days and weeks. We are in way too big a hurry for that, yet very frantic paces of our lives is leaving us spiritually bankrupt on running on the fumes of past experiences which are not sufficient to meet the life and ministry challenges of today.
Since when did we ever get deceived into thinking that little ten minute devotionals would ever serve to replenish our spiritual reserves and usher us into the glorious presence of Jesus to be transformed by Him. Even worse when did we ever come up with the notion we did not have to meet with God regularly to stay fresh and renewed in our souls? He longs to meet with us far more than we want to meet with Him.
When Darrell, Corbin, and Richard and I walked into that cabin one of the guys made the comment that I had not stopped smiling since we drove onto the Eagle’s Rest Retreat. I had not noticed it but why would I not smile when standing on such holy ground and hoping and expecting to meet with my Lord in significant and profound ways. Why would my soul not breathe in the intoxicating presence of the Everlasting God [Is 40:28] and exhale the soul draining demands of every day living. [Ps 55:22] When meeting with Jehovah in that place it seems time stands still on one hand and rushes by way too fast on the other hand.
I urge you to find your own eagle’s rest. I urge you to regularly make time to intentionally slow down, and saunter with the Savior down lonely dirt trails and scenic sanctuaries both indoors and outdoors. I will say it again. The location is not the most important thing. The soul thrilling encounters with God are the main thing and finding rest and renewal in your souls. There are not substitutes for eagle’s rests.
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