Soaring

"He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youths become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. 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 40:29-31. My pastor used these verses Sunday and it got me to thinking about eagles. A few times since we've moved to the farm we've spotted a pair of bald eagles in the tree line at the edge of our pasture, along a creekbed. Regal looking, the bald eagle is a symbol of freedom in the USA and our national bird. Eagles have long fascinated me. I love how they can just spread their enormous (7 foot)wings and soar on wind drafts at speeds of 35-75 mph; searching for prey with their sharp eyesight. That's a picture of how God wants us to surrender everything to Him and then just go with the flow, soaring on the wind drafts of the Holy Spirit. Eagles mate for life and share the duties of building their quite large (up to 8 feet) nests, which they continue to use and add to year after year. We humans can certainly learn from them in this area. My favorite thing about eagles is what I read one time. If they have ingested something toxic or poisonous they will lay on a rock and spread their feathers out to the sunshine and let the sun draw the poison out of them. I try to follow suit. If I have let some bad thoughts or besetting sins create toxic feelings in me, I will sit for as long as it takes in the presence of Jesus, my Son-shine, and in His Word, until those bad feelings are replaced with His joy. I can also identify with their molting. The eagles molt in patches, taking a year to replace their feathers. They start at the head and work down. God has been transforming my heart, slowly, for years. He starts with my mind and replaces the negative thoughts with God-centered ones. It is a process. Yes, there is a lot we can learn from eagles. God spoke often of eagles in His Word. "You have seen what I did to the Egyptians. You know how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to Myself", Exodus 19:4. "Like an eagle that rouses her chicks and hovers over her young, so He spread His wings to take them up and carried them safely on His pinions", Deuteronomy 32:11.