Learning From The Eagle 4 of 4

 

Welcome to this edition of MemCare by Radio. I’m Scott Hollinger and it’s good to be sharing with you once again. I know that for me personally when I was away from my family and friends, I listened often to radio and had a few favorite programs I tried never to miss. We are thankful you’ve included us in your list of programs. Today we’re back with another lesson of Learning from the Eagle. With us once again to lead us through this lesson is Edmund Spieker to finish this parable featuring the king of the birds.

 

Thanks Scott.  Hello dear listening friend!

 

My hope is that you will be as inspired and touched as I was and still am when I first learned about this amazing bird, the eagle. It has been the symbol of empires and still is used as a symbol for freedom and sovereignty in many countries. More than 30 times the eagle has been mentioned in the Bible. What I find most important is the fact that God compares Himself with the eagle.

 

The prophet Isaiah speaks about the secret of how we can have an eagle experience in our spiritual lives when he wrote, “...but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isa. 40:31)

 

In prior lessons we learned how the eagle is born for the high places. It treats its brood with much care but also with harshness when the time has come for it to leave the nest and to learn how to fly. We learned how an eagle loses its motivation and becomes dirty and depressed when in captivity.

 

We also spoke about the fact that eagles do not flap their wings to get up on high, but rather surf the currents of the air by soaring up. An eagle can get to be 120 years old, but in order to do that it’s necessary for it to go through the molting process, a kind of midlife crisis and renewal. At that time there is a chemical change in its body. The eagle goes down into hiding in the valley. It loses feathers and the horn of the beak and claws and becomes weak and depressed. At the lowest point of this time of change and renewal it hears one day familiar voices. The other eagles have spotted it and from now on start feeding it back to strength by throwing little pieces of meat. Soon the eagle will be again circling in the sky.

 

This was a great story to hear and so full of practical applications for our own lives. No wonder the Lord Jesus encouraged the disciples to look at the birds of the air and to learn from them some of the characteristics of the Creator God.  He actually assured them that in God’s eyes we are much more valuable than the birds. He definitely cares for us so much more.

 

Today as we finish this series I have three more lessons from the eagle.

 

The first is that the eagle faces the storm.

 

In contrast to all the other birds and animals which look for shelter when the tempest brews, the eagle sits at its preferred place in the peak of the mountain and waits for the storm to come. It reads the currents and at the right moment it jumps off and lets itself be carried by the strong wind. Its strong wings are specially designed to take advantage of the air current and can adapt very fast. The eagle, after finding the updraft of the air, circles higher and higher until it is actually above the tempest. 

 

This is an amazing lesson and takes us back to a saying in the Bible that those who trust in the Lord will soar on wings like eagles.

 

Storms come in all shapes and forms to all of us. We can choose to run from them or face them in faith. The philosopher Emerson said, “The wise man in the storm prays to God, not for safety from danger, but for deliverance from fear.”

 

Edmund, how many times do we read in the Bible God saying to His children, “Fear not!”  Jesus told His disciples, “In the world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (Jn. 16:33)  So this is a matter of trust and faith. If we remember the example of Peter, he started to walk on the water to Jesus, but then felt the wind, looked at the waves and not to the Lord, and started to sink. I remember that my wife had something similar happen to her the first time I took her snorkeling in the ocean. We were floating in about 4 meters of water enjoying the fish and coral. At that point she was just lightly touching my arm as I guided us to some of my favourite spots. But then at one point I let my body lower in the water and the distance between my feet and bottom was obviously 4-5 feet. It was then my wife understood how deep the water was and she panicked, literally paralyzed by fear of the depth and sank like a rock! I had to hold her and reassure that she would be fine if she just relaxed and floated and trusted me to get her back to shore safely.

 

Yes, and we too will be paralyzed by fear each time our focus is on the storms of life instead of looking in belief beyond the dark clouds to the Lord who is faithful and makes “all things work for good to those who love Him.” (Rom. 8:28)  I remember while growing up in Germany after World War 2 that my mother had a picture frame with the saying, “Auch hinter Wolkendunkel strahlt Gottes Licht. Verzage nicht.” (Even behind the darkness of the clouds God’s light is shining. Do not despair!)

 

Edmund, these lessons of trust are not easy to learn. One has to be a grown-up in faith to be ready to face the hard and sometimes violent storms in life.

 

No doubt about that, Scott. Only a grown up eagle can face the storm. Until then it needs to look for protection.

 

It is so interesting to observe mother eagle when there is still her brood in the nest and a storm arrives. Instead of facing the storm and taking off, she stays and covers the nest to protect the eaglets with her own body. With her wings she forms as if it were an umbrella over her young, while at the same time holding fast with her claws to the edge of the nest.

 

Actually Psalm 36:7 seems to have this picture in mind when we read, “Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings.”

 

The second lesson we want to learn today from the eagle has to do with his behaviour when it gets sick.

 

We all know that eagles don’t go to a doctor or a veterinarian. They are wild and free and totally dependent on their Creator. Amazing how God built into them the patience and the instinct to expose themselves to the healing powers in nature.

 

The sick eagle will stay on its rock, open its wings and expose itself to the healing powers of the sun rays.

 

As we listen again to the beginning of the theme verse of this series from Isaiah 40 we hear, “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.”

 

Maybe its time for some of us to be reminded that God is the creator of our bodies and can take care of them. When the people of Israel left Egypt to cross the desert we hear God speaking to them, “If you listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His eyes, if you pay attention to His commands and keep all His decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you.” (Ex. 15:26)

 

Edmund, I’m pretty sure I understand what you are saying but just so we are totally clear, I understand that you are certainly not saying that sick people shouldn’t seek help with the doctors or reject the medical science?

 

Certainly not, but if we listen to the statistics saying that 70% of all the illnesses have a psychological origin, then we also understand that people who live their lives without trusting God are much more vulnerable to sickness. Let’s hear this word from Scripture, “Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.” (Prov. 3:7,8)

 

The point is that even in sickness we should first trust and seek our help from the Lord.

 

The last lesson from the eagle is the very common and unavoidable reality that awaits all of us. There is a day when the eagle has to die. That day the eagle goes to its preferred place and instead of looking up into the sun, it bows its head, wraps its wings around itself and waits for death to come. When it does, it suddenly falls over and is gone.

 

What we can learn from the eagle is that there is a certain dignity even in dying. I remember when my mother was close to death, she didn’t complain, she wasn’t desperate, but rather calm and mentioned several times with a broken voice, “I want to go home!”  She knew that as she was leaving this earth she was going to be with her Lord in whom she believed.

 

Let me point out that death for the believer is so very different than the death of an eagle. We are not just creatures of God as all animals and living beings are. We have become His children by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ who redeemed us from our sin.  To His disciples Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. I will come back and take you to be where I am.” (Jn. 14:2,3)