The Eagle

retro bloggings from....the 90's     

 

The Eagle

Isaiah tells us,  "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles." Isaiah 40:31  The Psalmist also uses this same bird to illustrate this waiting and renewal of strength.   "He who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagles." (Psalm 103:5)

No other bird would have been a more perfect example for us in these verses.  The eagle was not chosen just because it is the king of birds, superior in size and strength; but because it preserves its youthful strength by the frequent change of an amazing renewal process.  This process of re-feathering is not like loosing hair in your hairbrush, but it’s a life threatening process of waiting.  When eagles are about midway through their lives they find a secret place high in the mountains and begin to claw at their face and tear out the feathers that have been damaged over the years. As a result, profuse bleeding, growing bacteria, weakness, loss of sensory abilities like smell and eyesight, all keep it from being able to function and feed itself.  This painful process is necessary for the eagle in order to renew its strength.  If it did not do this, it would not be able to live to its lifespan of 120 years.  In this living-death process it looses its natural instincts, identity and abilities to function and keep itself alive. In fact most eagles would die during this process if it were not for the matured eagles that have previously gone through this process and survived.  Those who have been through this “dark night of the soul” bring back nourishment from their own experiences, drop meat to the molting eagles enabling a few to put forth their last energies to reach out and get the strength needed to recover from this deathly process. How many have gone before us and become mentors and prayer warriors for us giving us the strength and speaking those Words necessary to regain our strength again and soar with the eagles?   Though we desire to bury those painful memories, we’re under obligation in 2 Corinthians 1:4 that God comforts us in our afflictions so that we are able to comfort those in any trouble with the comfort that we received from Him. 

Isaiah uses a beautiful word translated "wait."  The verb means "to twist or to stretch in order to become strong."   This has the meaning of binding together as in twisting or collecting, like the making of rope in which cords are pulled, stretched, and twisted together to make a rope strong with many strands.   For those who patiently wait upon the LORD He wraps His strength around our strand of life and gives us inner strength. We can live above the chances, the changes and circumstances of life. We exchange our weakness for His strength. We can only get that strength by waiting upon Him and wrapping ourselves around Him and drawing our strength from Him.

Countless Bible heroes spent years in this time of remaining actively quiet before the Lord, waiting for renewal that would eventually bring them the strength to do the will of the One who had called them. When we are not sure what course to follow, God will certainly show us if we wait patiently for the right timing – God’s own perfect timing. In our rushed and busy world, it is extremely difficult to wait on the Lord’s directions, because we want quick decisions and instant answers. But Scripture reminds us to “wait patiently for the Lord to act.”  Waiting is certainly NOT wasting time!  Waiting with God is a growing time! It is a refreshing time! It is a surprising and challenging time! It is a strengthening and direction-altering time. Waiting is not a popular concept in these days of instant everything! 

“Renew" means change or exchange.  The word is associated with the molting of eagle's wings as it exchanges its old feathers for new ones and is fitted for those spectacular flights into the higher altitudes. The strength that God gives is a new kind of strength. Those who wait on the Lord will exchange their own strength for a new quality of strength, the power of God. The exchanged life is like that. God wraps His strength around my strand of life to give me strength in His character. He gives us cable-like strength. We exchange our weakness for His strength. We get that strength by waiting on Him. Our renewal comes from God’s grace and strength. Jesus didn’t die only to save us from sins in the past, and give us eternal life so we will go to heaven, but also to give continued new life daily!  To gives us His strength for our weakness! He gives us His wisdom for our foolishness. His grace for our greed.  His love for our lusts.  His peace for our  conflicts, and His joy for our sorrows. He gives us forgiveness for our guilt. He gives His plenty for our poverty.

A time of renewal is necessary for every child of God. A time when we get rid of what is weighing us down, holding us back, aging us spiritually. A time to give up the sinful habits, to give in to the Holy Spirit in whatever way He is convicting us. We need to do this even to the point of renewal with pain! Some things we hold on to so tightly that to let go, actually causes us pain. But in order to have the long, powerful, useful spiritual life that God plans for us, we need to do that. It will renew our spiritual youthfulness. I wonder why it is so......why God has to strip away everything to renew our strength.  What a time of painful self-discovery this is!  When I think about it though,  I am filled with excitement of what's in store after the long renewal and I pray that I don’t lose the joy of expectancy while going through the pain. Loosing one's "feathers" may be awkward and unsightly but the "new growth" is so much better than the old. 

Amazingly the eagle has the most  incredible eyesight of any bird.  To come back from a state of utter  blindness the eagle can look at the sun with a straight and steady gaze and keep flying in a straight course.  After renewal it becomes more youthful and beautiful, while, at the same time, its strength, and eyesight are improved.   Can we say this of our walk with God after we’ve come through the dark seasons of waiting? As I move close to thirty-five years, there is some areas where I am experiencing some of that spiritual blur, and fear of the unknown can place me in a muddle of fear and apprehension that incapacitates me spiritually and leaves me in a fog unable to decipher what direction I am to take.  Then I think of how the Lord has loved, lead, and protected me and now He's promising to renew my youth again! 

Eagles do not fly like other birds because they don't flap their wings but soar. Flapping their wings would use incredible amounts of their own strength and endurance and they would require so much more food as fuel if they didn't soar.  Instead they sit on a high ledge and wait for the right wind currents to come. When the time is right, they take off and soar upward effortlessly, because they have waited for the right time. There is a special 'up going' wind, that they ride as it circles higher and higher toward the sky. Think of how birds handle storms by taking cover for protection. Sounds sensible, doesn't it? Eagles, on the other hand, fly straight into storms. This seemingly suicidal action is, in reality, the best thing they could do. The strong air currents raise them up and carry them over the bad weather - all they have to do is stretch out their wings and glide.  Often, our reaction to a stormy situation is to hide until it's all over. What would happen if, instead, we raised our heads . . . spread our wings . . . and flew straight into the storm, trusting God to carry us through - and over - the situation?   How often do we waste strength by jumping out too soon and 'flapping our wings', instead of waiting for God's timing?

Eagles were created for more than the average life.  They were made to be free and to soar to great heights. They were not meant to remain close to the earth in the lowlands but created to soar and are the cleanest of all birds. When eagles are held in captivity, they become dirty and unsanitary.  In the waiting, God makes us more aware of our own sinfulness and we become much more fully aware of false motives and bad attitudes, poor belief systems and habitual life-views which are not Godly or Biblical.  Living in the light of God is rather like allowing a light to shine in our darkest corners. This is necessary because sometimes God is the only one who knows these things. Active waiting and being with our Lord fills our spiritual reservoirs with all the best and Godly resources we need in life. Our motives will become purer and our attitudes better. Habits change and life becomes fresh and exciting again. We will be filled with joy and love, peace and purpose, power and Christ-likeness. We are renewed through all of this and change in all manner of ways, transformed, refreshed, and then given a new purpose and direction for our lives.   As I conclude these closing lines it happens that KLove radio is playing Phillips, Craig and Dean’s, “My praise.”  At the end of this process, we will also be able to sing,  “like an eagle soars as spreads it’s wings; whatever Lord you want from me, that’s what I want my praise to be.”  What glory our soaring will be when the painful waiting is over! 

~Cori Jones

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Dear Lord, I scarcely understand my own reluctance to take hands off and let you manage my affairs.  Do I actually think that you the sovereign omnipotent God, cannot get along with out my help?  Lord forgive me for presumption like that. But sometimes I find it harder to WAIT ON YOU, being bidden not to do anything at all except trust you, than it would be to rush ahead trying to arrange things myself.  I need your help with this.  I ask for patience. Above all, I ask for the faith to believe that my future is important to you.  Thank you that my times are in your loving hands. Amen.  ~Excerpted from "The Helper" by Catherine Marshall