Lessons from an Eagle

How do you expect me to soar with eagles
when I’m surrounded by turkeys??? ~ Anon

Ever the symbol of nobility, eagles have, in our society, come to represent freedom, liberty, integrity, stature, loyalty, and strength. In Scripture, the eagle is alluded to many times, one of the most quoted being Isaiah 40:31…

But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.

So how do we “mount up with wings like eagles?” How do we rise up above the fray of “turkeydom”, and take our place in the heights as God intended? Here are three characteristics about eagles that may give you some insight into why this beautiful creature is held up as such a majestic symbol…

The Eagle Knows Commitment.

A male eagle, when he sees a female, thrusts out his chest and struts. If she accepts his proposal, she soars thousands of feet in the air and he follows her. When they are way up high — thousands of feet — they interlock their talons and they begin to fall toward the treetops. He is stroking the back of her neck with his beak on the way down. Right before they hit the treetops they spread their wings and they go back up a second time. This time she strokes the back of his neck with her beak. They go way up farther the third time, and on the third drop they mate for life. Just before they hit the ground after mating, they spread those wings. They’ve set their course in that relationship. An eagle will stay with it’s mate until one or the other of them dies.

What a beautiful picture for the way God intended marriage to be. Jesus explained it this way…

 And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” ~ Matthew 19:4-6

The Eagle Exhibits Wise Use of Energy.

Unlike other birds that we see fluttering about our yards on a day-to-day basis, when eagles fly, they actually flap their wings very little. Eagles rise above, fly to grand heights, and utilize the atmosphere to simply spread their wings and soar. From that vantage point, the eagle can identify potential danger, food, and conserve its energy for hunting and defense against enemies.

In Matthew 6:34, Jesus says…

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.
Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Learn to utilize your energy wisely. Don’t spend your time “flapping your wings” over things that don’t matter.

The Eagle Understands Humility and Dependence.

Although most do not live that long, eagles can live up to 120 years. After the 60th year, if it lives that long, the male eagle returns to the rock where it was born. The female, especially if she is younger, nourishes her husband because he strips all of his feathers off, he beats his beak off, and she tears every claw out of him. He is laying there helpless, a spectacle, humiliated, stripped of glory and helpless. The only thing you can see are the wounds of previous battles that now appear on his skin. He is taken by the mother eagle to the nearby rushing water and drinks the running water and allows it to bathe him. She brings him honey and he eats honey. He returns to the rock and is warmed by it. He remains there 30 days, protected by his mate. By the 30th day, all feathers, talons, and the beak grow back. The eagle never fully matures until he has been through this process. However, once it goes through it, the eagle is literally dead to what it had been before.

Now, let’s look at Isaiah 40:31 again…

But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.

Can you see the eagle laying there 30 days with no feathers, no claws, totally defenseless, with only the female to protect him? Let me tell you, sometimes you’ve got to get defenseless and let the bride (the church) take care of you. But on that 30th day, you’re looking young again — strong again. They that wait on the Lord shall be like the re-molted eagle, shall be like the renewed eagle that’s been through the process of death, that’s been wounded, and hurt and broken, but is renewed and ready to mount up and soar to new heights.

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God,
that he may exalt you in due time. ~ 1 Peter 5:6

 

So how about you?

Do you struggle with commitment?

Do you spend too much energy on the wrong things?

Are you in a season of humility and dependence?

Take a lesson from the eagle.