Eagle's Wings

This morning I saw an eagle in flight from my back porch. It was beautiful! Today is my deadline for work and the scripture immediately came to mind, "But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint." (Isaiah 40:31) I said a quick prayer for this type of energy. I quickly did a search to find the verse and that search led to so much more! I also found Deuteronomy 32:11 (I will quote The Message speaking of God toward Moses and the Children of Israel.) "He threw his arms around him, lavished attention on him, guarding him as the apple of his eye. He was like an eagle hovering over its nest, overshadowing its young. Then spreading its wings, lifting them into the air, teaching them to fly." There are many references to eagles in the Word. The verses above use the eagle as a picture of how God interacts with His Children. If you're feeling your life is a bit stirred up right now, this might encourage you... A mother eagle is very attentive to her young. She works hard and takes great care to feed each fledgling, making sure each has adequate nourishment. But there comes a time when the babies need to make a life change and learn to fly. First the mother eagle shows the baby birds what their wings are for by hovering over the nest, similar to the way a hummingbird hovers. Then the mother eagle makes things very uncomfortable for the babies. She literally takes the soft feather padding away, breaks the sticks apart that have been the foundation of the baby birds' existence, and makes life in the nest very uncomfortable. Then, as a surprise to each baby, she nudges each one out, until at last, one at a time, each baby falls from the nest, tumbling down to the ground below. She watches intently as the baby falls. She waits. Then just at the right moment, the mother eagle swoops down from her nest and flies under the falling baby to catch the scared little bird on her back. From there, she carries the baby safely back to the nest. All this, for the good of the baby - to teach it to fly. Have you ever felt like, "Hey, God! What are you doing? What's happening? I feel like I'm falling - like everything in my life is falling!" There are times when God destroys our "nests" in order to help us learn to fly. But, He has an ever watchful eye on us and just at the right time, He will swoop down and lift us on His back to the heights again. Fly baby bird. Soar high! Trust in your loving Father! He will not leave you. He will not fail you. He will lift you up, at just the right time, like on eagles wings.