With Wings As Eaglesby Rev. William Claire Greiner |
||
Throughout history man has had a fascination with eagles. Known as the king of the birds, it has been revered as a symbol of majesty, grace, and power. Roman legions marched under the silver and gold emblem of eagles. Egyptians used the eagle as a symbol of victory. In America our founding fathers put the eagle on our national seal and on our currency. Eagles can measure nearly a yard from beak to tail-tip, weigh as much as 14 pounds, and have wing spans of seven to eight feet. Majestic birds, they glide effortlessly at breathtaking altitudes, seemingly unaffected by the turbulent winds that whip across and between mountain crevices. Eagles are strong of heart and represent qualities we admire: speed, strength, power, majesty, dependability, courage, tenderness, faithfulness, pride, ferocity, great daring. All of this gives them dominion of the skies. These characteristics are evident in the eagle even before it is born. It’s fascinating that an eaglet in the egg has a little tooth that grows on its beak to help it stretch its way through the eggshell and become free. If you help an eaglet to be born you will kill it, because it’s that adversity and having to fight to get out of the egg, that actually helps the eagle acquire its great strength. Adversity also makes us strong. Eagles have great courage. For their size, they are the most powerful of creatures and will attack animals larger than themselves. In Australia they have been known to knock kangaroo and sheep off of cliffs. If a snake attacks an eagle, the eagle bares its breast, encouraging the snake to strike it. An eagle has virtually no fear. Throughout the Bible there are 34 references to the eagle. Solomon said, "There are three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not: The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid" (Proverbs 30:18,19). There is a beautiful parallel between the eagle soaring in the air and the believer living above the power of temptation. It is a picture of the kind of life saints of God are privileged to live by the power of the Holy Spirit. Eagles are strong of heart and represent qualities such as responsibility, liberty, beauty, stability, and a dozen other admirable traits. But perhaps one word, more than any other sums up the life of an eagle. That word is commitment.
EAGLES ARE COMMITTED Eagles do not flock together like other birds, but live in pairs within a well-defined territory. They live on the average about 50 years and mate for life, or until one of the partners dies (a fact not common in the animal kingdom). No matter what happens, short of death, the marriage will last. It will not only last, but the birds put their maximum effort into making it work. Eagles carry out a most elaborate courtship, one that will continue throughout their lives together. The male and female eagles often soar together with the male taking the lead, and the amazing thing is they never seem to get bored with one another. The male eagle never takes his mate for granted, but continues to court her for the rest of her life. He will also help with the housework such as feeding and caring for the young. All species of eagles perform some nuptial display — calling to one another from perches, or by soaring through the air. "The two will soar and dive in a breathtaking display of power and agility. Gradually they become interlocked in flight, performing rolling somersaults in mid-air, engaging in incredible aerial acrobatic fetes together. Their love songs echo across the plains. Even normally silent species of eagles resort to love calls. During this spectacular mid-air display the female will sometimes carry a stick high into the air and drop it. The male in response to this gesture will dive and retrieve it. This process may be repeated over and over again. One observer described it this way: "The highlight of the performance is when the male dives at the female. She rolls over on her back in mid air, flashing her deadly talons, not as a sign of hostility, but of love. Reaching out to one another the two then clasp talons, engage in a series of cart-wheels, talons locked together, as they roll and plummet toward the earth. It’s a beautiful sight high above the earth as they swoop and glide in unison, hovering and somersaulting together. Their flight is a picture of grace-like ballet dancers that glide in harmony toward the face of the sky. It is one of the most magnificent sights to behold in the bird kingdom. Their mating vows are full of joy and exchanged high above the earth in a realm very few creatures ever attain. It is a vow of complete and total trust in each other even to the death." That’s some courtship, unlike many marriages where romance has come to a screeching halt. Throughout their lives many species of eagles regularly perform their love ritual as a sign of devotion and affection and to strengthen the bond between the two. That bond is strong and cemented firmer with the passing years. A mated couple will join together in the face of adversity, a threat of defeat, and even for the simple pleasure of hunting and soaring together. They are the classic mates. Besides being lovers and parents, eagles are friends. They are happy in each other’s company. While the female sits on the nest the male bird will quietly and gently groom and stroke her feathers. It is simply a sign of affection. The male and female frequently perch side by side and stroke and peck at each other’s bills. The female uses her bill to stroke her mate’s back and breast, while the male strokes her head, neck, and shoulder. Almost every day the male eagle leaves the nest in search of a twig or greenery. Realizing that some nests are in barren, desert areas, this may entail long sweeps over the countryside to locate the suitable brush or tree. Once located, the male eagle selects a prime sprig of greenery and flies back to the nest to present this gift of love to his mate. Husbands and wives should keep dating! Remember the little gifts, the treats, the surprises. Keep working on the marriage relationship. Don’t neglect one another, or you will end up being perfect strangers after the children have left home.
EAGLES ARE COMMITTED The first item of business for newly mated eagles is to build a nest. "Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high? She dwelleth and abideth on the rock, upon the crag of the rock, and the strong place" (Job 39:27,28). An eagle’s nest is a sight to behold. It is usually perched high in the mountains or on the face of some sheer cliff or rock wall, or in the highest tree in the area. The nest is located in the most remote spot that the bird can find. But wherever the eagle builds a nest, it is built on a firm foundation. It is a sanctuary for the young — a place of refuge! Matthew chapter seven tells the story of the wise man who built his house upon the rock. His home was secure and safe in the midst of tempest. The foolish man, however, built his house on the sand. When the storms came there was only destruction. On what are you building your home? Can it be said of your family: "They dwell and abide on the rock, upon the crag of the rock, and the strong place."? Eagles devote considerable time and effort to nest building Most eagles use the same nest year after year, adding new tiers and weaving in new sticks until the aerie reaches enormous size. The world’s largest bird’s nest was built by a bald eagle in St. Petersburg, Florida. It measured nine and one-half feet across and twenty feet deep and was estimated to weigh more than two tons. In many instances successive generations use the identical nest — eagles have been raised in certain nests annually for almost a century. "Know therefore that the Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations" (Deuteronomy 7:9). I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever: with my mouth will I make known Thy faithfulness to all generations" (Psalm 89:1). "Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations" (Psalm 90:1). When eagles build their nests it is teamwork. The male’s main duty is keeping the area free of potential troublemakers, and he does most of the gathering of materials for the nest. Favorite construction materials are sticks found on the ground, timber from construction sights, or dead branches which they break off with their talons. Often the sticks are an inch or more in diameter and about three feet long. One white-tailed sea eagle’s nest contained 2900 branches that were over six feet long. It is the female’s task to arrange the furniture. She has ideas of her own, and frequently will move a limb ten times before deciding where to finally put it. Sometimes she tosses out many of the male’s treasured limbs. Undaunted, he swoops down and grasps the discarded limb and flies off to store it in a tree crotch. A few days later he brings it back to his mate. But the female eagle has an unerring memory and recognizes it as he flies toward her with it clutched in his mouth or in his talons. She starts to scream angrily. The frustrated male flies off and stores the limb in a safe place, and waits a few more days before trying again. Sometimes the female will go off on her own to search for a branch. While she is away the male takes advantage of her absence and brings all the branches his wife had rejected and he piles them into the nest. The female eagle, however, on her return tosses the whole lot over the side. In some marriages, that would be grounds for divorce. It takes some species nearly a year to build a new nest, and a month or more to repair an old one. Remember, each and every solitary stick must be carried to this remote building site by the eagle. It is a monumental task. But the eagles are never overwhelmed or overawed by the immensity of the job. In-built within the bird is the blueprint for the future nest — a picture of exactly what the nest will look like and how to make the dream a reality. They have a plan and stick with it. So, too, we need to have a plan for building our homes and stick with it. The Word of God, the Bible, is our perfect blueprint! Nothing seems to deter the eagle from bringing their goal to reality, whether it is seemingly insurmountable odds, adversities or temporary setbacks. Not even in the face of fires, storms, blizzards, earthquakes, are they deterred. If a nest is blown down, as they occasionally are, eagles will build and rebuild as often as necessary. The eagle presses on toward the mark, never looking back to past failures. You will seldom see a partially completed eagle’s nest. Sir Winston Churchill was asked to address the young men at his old school. They expected a long speech from him, but he said these words: "Gentlemen, never give up, never give up, never give up. Never, never, never.’’ Then he sat down. Eagles make great parents. Once the eggs are laid, eagles settle down to a relatively quiet existence. The female devotes herself to guarding the eggs and keeping them warm. About once per hour, she will stand up, change position, and poke around in the nest material. The male brings food, and for brief periods each day he will relieve her of the duty. When the eaglets are born the male is especially busy with extra mouths to feed. He must hunt for food from dawn to dusk to "put bread on the table." Occasionally he will bring a sprig of green pine needles to decorate the nursery, and to freshen and deodorize the nest. Much of the mother’s time is spent in arranging sticks and digging in the nest material to keep it free from defilement. The male takes his turn at babysitting, and should something disastrous happen to his mate, he will even raise the young alone. That’s dedication! That’s commitment! The "king of the sky" serving as a baby-sitter. If the male eagle doesn’t take his turn often enough, the female may call for a relief of duties. One man who studied eagles at great length wrote: "At one nest I watched in 1976, the female had been caring for the chicks for several hours and had repeatedly called to her mate; she would look in the direction where he was perched not far away. Finally, as if tired of waiting, she took off, circled around, and dived at the male, almost knocking him off the perch; she landed on a tree nearby while he went straight to the nest without a sound. "The female, who had been on the eggs for perhaps twenty hours straight, was clearly anxious to have some free time. She went off to bathe, preen, and feed herself. When she returned at mid-afternoon, the male was quite reluctant to leave the eggs. Without hesitation the female pushed her mate off the nest." Eagles are fiercely defensive of their young. Nobody, but nobody, gets near their nests. They will attack anything or anyone that poses a threat. What a reminder to Christians, and parents in particular.
An eagle parent:
Eagles are diligent in training their young. This is alluded to in Deuteronomy 32:11— "As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings, so the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him." There are four divine principles God would have us learn from the eagle in the care of their young.
There are several reasons for stirring the nest. One reason is for purification. Eagles are meticulous housekeepers. Their nest can become messy and cluttered with debris. Old fish, rotting and infested with maggots, accumulate in the nest, and the parent eagle is constantly house cleaning. Much of their time at the nest is spent arranging sticks and digging in the nest material. This digging is often done with great vigor. This may go on for a few minutes and be repeated several times a day. We as parents should be equally concerned about the purity of our homes. We ought to be able to testify with the Psalmist David: "I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way . . . . I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes. . . . Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; He that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me. He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house; he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight" (Psalm 100:2,3,6,7). The Holy Spirit is constantly at work in our lives, purifying and cleansing us. God stirs up our nest, that we might be a holy people. The blood cannot cover sins we refuse to uncover. "Keep yourself unspotted from the world" (James 1:27). Another reason for stirring the nest it to wean the young from the nest and promote maturity. While the eaglets sit in their cozy surroundings, enjoying the comforts of home, fed and protected from storms and beasts of prey, they do not yet realize themselves to be eagles. So, one day the parents have a conference. They come to the conclusion that their youngsters are now large enough and old enough to know that they are eagles. The mother bird begins stirring up the nest with greater vigor. She picks their comfortable home to pieces. She takes that soft wool or goat hair, carries it off and drops it into the canyon below. Then she takes away some of the small sticks. With a bump, the young bird finds itself sitting uncomfortably on the rough limbs. The mother is stirring up the nest in order to wean the young birds from the home. So, too, the Lord has a way of dealing with His children. Often we are too comfortable to exercise our wings of faith and move into the will of God. Amos 6:1 warns: "Woe to them that are at ease in Zion." If your earthly nest is being stirred, if your money or trusted friends are gone, if you feel absolutely helpless and dependent upon God and God alone, rejoice, for you are being weaned from the things of the world. God’s ways are seldom our ways. God wants eagle saints. But we would never become such at all if we had our way. Remember, God has a way of weaning us from this perishing world if we will wholly follow Him.
This phrase speaks first of the constant protection the parent eagle gives to her young as she hovers over them. The fledglings cannot regulate their own body temperature and must be kept warm by the parent. She covers her young with her broad wings to keep them cool during the day and warm during the night. Quite commonly a chick will rest at its parent’s breast, and in the first ten days at least, the adult may pull a blanket of dried grass on top of the little bird. What a beautiful picture of God’s protective care for His children. The context of this scripture in Deuteronomy 32:11 is that of the children of Israel in the wilderness. "For the Lord’s portion is His people; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance. He found him in a desert land, and in the waste, howling wilderness; He led him about, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye. As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings, so the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him." Here is God hovering over His beloved children, protecting and shielding them with His wings. He sends the pillar of fire by night and cloudy pillar by day. The Psalmist prayed: ‘‘Keep me as the apple of Your eye; hide me under the shadow of Your wings’’ (Psalm 17:8). God’s people are the apple of His eye. LANGE’S COMMENTARY SAYS: literally the man of the eye; the little man, the pet, the image of him who looks in the eyes of another. Jehovah had not let Israel out of His sight. ‘‘He who dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. .... He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust.... There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plaque come near thy dwelling’’ (Psalm 91:1,4,10). Another reason for the parent to ‘‘flutter over’’ the nest is to teach the young ones to fly. The parents do it by example by fluttering over the nest.
If the little eaglets refuse to venture forth on their own, the mother "takes them." Some have suggested the mother actually picks the babies up by the scruff of the neck and takes them to the edge of the nest and says "Out you go!" Or that she takes them for joy rides on her back, but there is no substantiated evidence of such a procedure. In Hebrew the phrase literally means, "She leads them." The parent will withhold food from the young for a day or two, creating a deep hunger in them. Then the mother circles the nest, holding food in one talon, coaxing the young with her cries. The eaglet tries to snatch the morsels of food the mother is dangling near the edge of the nest. The parents keep circling, coming so close as to almost touch the eaglets, all the while seeming to plead with their young to come to them. The young eaglet eagerly rushes to the edge of nest, snapping hungrily at the food. All of a sudden it happens — the young bird loses its balance and topples headfirst into mid air! Thrashing hysterically with its wings, he screams in terror as he goes into a tailspin, and especially so if the nest has been built on a high mountain. Both parents are at his side, screaming encouragement. Their shrill cries sound exactly as though they are giving instructions. So God invites us and ‘‘leads us’’ out of the nest to explore the heights for which we are designed. He creates in our hearts a hunger for the perfect will of God. It is life’s greatest adventure to ‘‘leave the nest’’ of complacency and comforts. There is often a push and pull in the will of God. It is the adventure of faith. ‘‘By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed, and he went out, not knowing whither he went’’ (Hebrews 11:8). As we follow in obedience the leading of the Lord we are assured of His continuous presence and constant guidance. He has promised, ‘‘I will never leave thee nor forsake you’’ (Hebrews 13:5).
Some have suggested that the parent eagles will catch the falling eaglet on their wings. Even though the parent eagle is capable of doing this, it does not seem to be founded on fact. The word ‘‘bore’’ or ‘‘beareth’’ (as also in Exodus 19:4 — ‘‘I bore you on eagles wings’’) in Hebrew means ‘‘to raise, to lift up, to support, to help.’’ This verbal root is used more than 650 times in the Old Testament. Whether literally or figuratively, the word’s basic meaning is ‘‘to lift up.’’ If the eaglet continues to falter, one of the parents flies close, and with its mighty wings creates a change in the air current, thereby providing an updraft and a lift to the youngster. Have you ever felt yourself in a downward spiral? You think you are going to crash. There have been times in our thirty years of ministry when we have wondered if were going to make it. But suddenly we sensed the presence of God lifting us up. God’s people had been praying, and the Holy Spirit whispered encouragement to our hearts, directing and teaching us to fly. Suddenly we found ourselves borne aloft on eagle’s wings. We can’t emphasize too much the importance of praying one for another, for family members, for our pastors, for missionaries and Christian workers. "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints" (Ephesians 6:18).
EAGLES ARE COMMITTED Eagles are designed for flight and for soaring. They are committed to scaling the heavens and enjoying the freedom of the skies. There are several reasons why eagles soar. EAGLES SOAR FOR PLEASURE Eagles soar often just for the fun of it. They possess a great sense of humor. They enjoy diving at incredible speeds and swooping up into the heavens again. They take delight in seeing some prey and swooping earthward at lightning speeds to scare the life out of it. They love a good time. Soaring also strengthens the pleasure of their relationship with each other. Eagles often soar together, courting and playing games. At times an eagle will drop a stick while flying in the sky, and his mate will catch it in mid air. For the eagle saint there is great joy and pleasure in soaring into the heavenlies. Relationships take on new meanings in Christ. God has endowed His saints with wings as eagles to soar into realms unique to Christians. The quitter gets ‘‘wings like a dove,’’ but the winner gets ‘‘wings like an eagle.’’ The eagle is created to soar. Its destiny is the sky. It is only in the heavenlies that it can know its full potential as an eagle. The wings of an eagle are its ticket to the skies. The average wingspans are seven to eight feet from tip to tip. To begin a flight an eagle will leap fifteen feet or more into the air. Then with a powerful downbeat of its wings, the bird is airborne. An altitude of 12,000 feet may be reached within minutes. Few sights in nature are more impressive than a soaring eagle, and few sights in the spiritual realm are more thrilling than a soaring saint. Someone described the flight of an eagle this way: "Eagles are an aerodynamic marvel, a perfect flying machine, well able to maintain flights for lengthy periods without undue exertion. In fact they can remain completely motionless except for an occasional flip of their wing tips to counter air wind currents. Eagles soar higher than practically any other bird alive. They understand the ways of the thermal currents better than most, if not all, the birds, and their soaring takes them so high that they are barely visible to the naked eye. Airline pilots regularly intercept eagles soaring high above the earth at heights few other birds could achieve. One eagle can reach the staggering height of 25,000 feet. That’s five miles above the earth. Eagles have been spotted at sea between New York and England soaring at great altitudes. One was spotted 900 miles south of Greenland in an area where there was virtually no land whatsoever. They soar so high in fact that ice sometimes forms on their wings. In conditions that would have been difficult for a man to stand, an eagle can hover as steady as a rock, the wing tips moving constantly to make adjustments to the air currents."
EAGLES SOAR FOR PERSPECTIVE Eagles have remarkable eyes. They are fixed firmly in their sockets so an eagle must move its head to look around. Its neck, however, is so flexible that an eagle can actually turn its head upside down, something few, if any, other birds can do. Eagles have tremendous vision. They have the ability to focus on faraway objects (this is called resolving power) with a power eight times stronger than human eyes. This means they can spot a rabbit almost two miles away. At half a mile they can see every detail on the prey — even the scales on a fish or the feathers on a bird. An eagle soaring hundreds of feet above the ground can detect the movement of a tiny field mouse. Its eyes adjust quickly and accurately with a depth of field and focus. So great is the eagle’s power of sight that it can survey a five-mile area with great accuracy. Its scope of vision is 275 degrees enabling the bird to observe either side and gain a perspective of anything approaching from the rear as well. It is only when an eagle soars that it gets full perspective of the earth beneath it. The higher the eagle flies, the larger will be its perspective. From the skies an eagle is able to observe storms and dangers afar off and seek out prey. It is crucial to survival. "From thence she seeketh the prey, and her eyes behold afar off" (Job 39:29). Birds such as crows and turkeys rarely achieve great heights and have limited vision. An eagle at 1000 feet can see danger miles away, while a crow at 30 feet can spot things only a few hundred yards away. A turkey or chicken who never leaves the ground has virtually zero vision, and is likely to perish in the bush from a predator. As believers, we desperately need vision and focus. We need to learn to soar into the heavenlies so we can get God’s perspective. In soaring, Eagles see what others cannot see. So, too, God gives His eagle saints spiritual insight and vision. Even as an eagle’s eyes are not fully developed at birth but develop with maturity, so, too, our perspective grows as we mature in Christ. It is only as we soar on eagle’s wings that we are able to see the total picture, and get God’s perspective.
EAGLES SOAR FOR PEACE Someone has said, "The eagle that soars in the upper air does not worry itself about crossing rivers." Eagles do have tormentors — smaller birds that come around and pester them. It is only at lower elevations that the "king of the skies" is often harassed by smaller birds such as disgruntled hawks and crows. Crows in particular love to tease the eagle, tagging him and screaming warnings to all would-be-prey. At times crows have actually been seen tweaking the tail feathers of an eagle. The only escape for the eagle in these situations is to rise higher than the crow can fly. So with a surge of power the eagle is able to defy the law of gravity and mount up to the heavens. "Riches fly away like an eagle toward heaven" (Proverbs 23:5). In soaring, eagles experience peace, even in the midst of storms. Wind gales and storms actually stimulate soaring and playfulness. As an eagle approaches a storm front it locks its wings in such a position as to allow the force of the buffeting of the wind to lift it. The forward motion of the wind striking its wings at just the right angle will cause it to lift. The force of the storm is deflected harmlessly downward by those magnificent wings allowing the bird to soar to new and greater heights. Rather than defeat the bird, and drain it of all of its strength in an effort to stay aloft, the eagle uses the force of the storm to its own advantage, harnessing the very power sent to destroy it. Believers are constantly facing the winds of adversity, but we can harness them to enable us to soar higher in Christ. Storms can actually form strong, godly character. Joseph testified, "You thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good." "All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28).
EAGLES SOAR FOR PURITY Sometimes an eagle gets a little build-up around its beak, caused by a small virus. When an eagle is flying at a great speed, such a thing can be disastrous. It puts the bird off balance so it cannot land properly. The eagle knows it has to get rid of the thing. With God-given instinct, it knows exactly what to do. It soars up into the heavens, higher than it perhaps has ever been before. The pressure gets so great the little virus that has been building on its beak bursts, and the eagle is free to soar unhindered again. Unconfessed sin in the life of a believer is like a virus that can cause him to fly unevenly and unsteadily. It is only in the presence of God that cleansing comes, and the sin virus is severely dealt with.
How do God’s people learn to soar like an eagle?
Upon awakening, eagles call loudly to greet the day. Then preen their plumage. If their feathers are wet they will bask in the sun till they are dry. Daily flights start between 10 and 11 A.M. when the sun heats the earth’s surface and rising air currents start. But the eagle waits for the precise moment, often for hours, especially if the day is dark, cool, and windless. The eagle is marvelous with its patience, its persistence, and its discipline. If the air is absolutely still with no movement, an eagle cannot soar. So he sits and waits. Eagles can become airborne at any time if they should choose, and flap their wings. They are capable of sustained flapping flight, but it requires a large expenditure of energy to power those massive wings. So they usually spend little time doing it (on the average about two minutes per hour.) In early morning in the Australian desert, eagles can be seen perched quietly on a craggy rock or a tree. As the sun rises, it’s only the flappers, such as crows, that take to the skies. Eagles instinctively know that the sun’s rays are not yet sufficient to warm the earth and create the necessary currents for effortless flight. So the eagle patiently waits for the sun to warm the thermals. He won’t budge until the right breeze comes along. Often an eagle flaps its wings only at the beginning of the day to take it into its first thermal, and at the end of the day to get to a good roosting place. Eagles will always choose to soar or glide when possible. All too often many Christians waste their energy trying to flap when they could be soaring. Weariness comes from self-effort, trying to soar in our own strength. We need the patience of an eagle.
Eagles wait patiently for the moving of the wind. The Hebrew word for wind is "ruwach (roo’-akh)," meaning breath. It is the same word used for Spirit. God’s saints are encouraged to wait for the moving of God’s Spirit. We are to wait PATIENTLY and wait EXPECTANTLY. "They that wait upon the Lord shall mount up with wings as eagles." The word "wait" literally means: patiently tarry; to expect. It carries the meaning also of "to bind together, twist." It speaks of intimacy with our Lord. Furthermore, "they shall renew their strength." "Thy strength is renewed like the eagle’s" (Psalm 103:5). "Renewing" has reference to the molting time of the eagle. Like all birds, eagles drop old, worn, or damaged feathers, which are replaced by new ones. When an eagle’s feathers get worn and tired they begin to make a strange whistle as the eagle glides through the air. This is especially troublesome for the eagle when it is swooping down on a prey. The rabbit (or other such animals) hears the whistle of the wings and escapes. Realizing this, what does the eagle do? He flies up into the high country and there goes to a quiet solitary place and starts to pluck out its feathers, those old tired feathers, from its wings. Some eagles have been known to pluck out all their feathers. Then they go to a brook and wash themselves, because they want to get rid of all the lice and other impurities. Now they wait for the feathers to grow again. Also, their beaks develop a calcium build-up and need to be re-honed. So they go to a rock and start to re-sharpen their beaks. Even their talons have to be razor sharp, so they hone their talons once again. When their wings have grown back they soar up into the heavens. They are coming back — renewed. Why would we, as God’s children, let a bird of earth understand the will of God for itself more than men and women who claim to have partaken of the life of God? If an eagle can renew its youth through physical exercise, by the grace of God I shall endeavor to renew mine through spiritual exercise. God has a new, fresh, youthful experience for His children every day of the year. The trials and traumas of life often rob us of our vitality, and cause us to faint, but as we "wait on the Lord," He promises to renew our strength and enable us to "mount up with wings as eagles"—to soar in victory and freedom. Instead of being burdened down, God gives us the strength and grace we need to rise above the circumstances of life—to mount above the aggravations—the crows that pester and annoy us. Eagles seem to have a premonition of death. At such a time they will fly to a high place and fasten their talons to a rock. With dignity and majesty they die looking into the setting sun. What a glorious picture of God’s eagle saints! When it’s time to depart this old world, they find their feet firmly planted on the solid rock Christ Jesus, and their eyes fixed with wondering gaze on the Son of Righteousness. Then with eagle wings and unfettered joy they soar to glory.
ON EAGLES WINGS I watched an eagle rise —W.C.Greiner |
||