Quotes:
“There is an eagle in me that wants to soar, and there is a hippopotamus in me that wants to wallow in the mud” - Carl Sandburg
“If we never had the courage to take a leap of faith, we'd be cheating God out of a chance to mount us up with wings like eagles and watch us soar.” ― Jen Stephens, The Heart's Journey Home
“When the eagles are silent, the parrots begin to jabber.” - Sir Winston Churchill
Isaiah 40:31; Deuteronomy 32:11-12
Like Eagles… Let’s consider some aspects of the Eagle.
STIRRING OF THE NEST
Job 39:27-28 “27- Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high? 28- She dwelleth and abideth on the rock, upon the crag of the rock, and the strong place.”
Eagles build their nests high upon the mountain tops; sometimes at altitudes above 10,000 feet where the air is thin.
Their nests can weigh as much as 2 tons and can be up to 8 feet across and up to 2 feet deep.
Leaves and animal furs are used to cover the rough sticks in the nest and shortly before the eggs hatch the mother eagle begins to pull the soft Downey from herself to keep her young warm.
After about 6 to 7 months, the mother eagle begins to stir (mess-up) the nest. She will pull out the leaves and fur as to make the nest less comfortable.
The stirring of the nest in this way forces the young fowls to stand and balance developing critical strength.
It also causing them to want to leave the nest.
God disturbs our “nest” to cause us to reach toward Him.
STRUGGLEING TO FLY
When it is time for the young Eagles to fly the mother begins to flap her wings over the nest with great force; This in-turn pushes the young birds closer and closer to the edge of the nest until they are finally pushed out the nest and begins to fall.
The power of flight is within the small eaglets.
They will begin to flap their wings while free-falling without much success at first. Then just before falling to a certain death, the father eagle will swoop down and catch them.
This is repeated over and over again until the young eaglet can fly for their-self.
The lesson of flight comes without warning for the young birds as it does for us as Christians in this life. Suddenly without warning we can find our lives wrapped up in a situation and a half.
Valuable Adversity
Why?. . . . . Because you cannot learn to fly in a church pew nor on the back of a another.
No struggle, no strength. Remove the thorn, remove the grace.
God’s greatest had struggles all throughout the Bible:
Abraham struggled with deception.
Jacob would war against worldliness.
Moses had a temper.
Elijah seemed faithless at times.
David was plagued by lust and even becoming a murder.
Solomon battled with sensuality and idolatry.
I don’t remembering reading in there Word of God where folks prayed for:
A lion’s den.
A fiery furnace.
The task of building an ark.
For a Judas kiss.
For a Cross.
To be misunderstood.
To be hurt to the core.
To be tempted.
We don’t pray for hurt; yet in the hurt, there is healing;
A healing that creates a vision, a desire, and a passion for God.
Intense struggle makes us stretch the wings of our soul to higher heights in God.
The brilliance of the light surpasses the wonder of the lamp. And so it is for us today, the brilliance of what we can become in Christ surpasses what we are in the flesh.
Psalm 103:1 5 – “Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”
AN UPWARD CALL
Some will never understand the power of an upward call.
Their lives will always lack great purpose.
Lot -- Wanted a pasture more than the things of God.
Gehazi -- Wanted material things more than to be obedient to God.
Ananias and Sapphira -- Wanted notoriety more than God’s blessing.
Amnon -- Hungered for illicit things while he sat at the king’s table and starved his soul.
But there are those whose hearts cannot be tethered by the material world.
Their spirits soar beyond the baser desires.
They hunger for the things of God.
Their pursuits are Godward.
The spirit of the eagle stirs within.
Those are the great men and women of God!
Isaiah 40:31 – “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
No other bird has the ability to fly at to the heights as the eagle.
Christians are special in this old world.
OVERCOMING STORMS
Most animals are equipped by nature to sense the coming of the storm and find shelter.
But the eagle upward until it is above the storm.
CONCLUSION
Philippians 3:13-14 – “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
Consider:
John Milton one of the world’s most recognized poets had to sell his copyright of A Paradise Lost for $72.00.
Robert Louis Stevenson battled tuberculosis while writing many classics of literature.
William Shakespeare held horses at the door for a London theatre for sixpence a day.
Homer struggled with blindness while writing the Odyssey.
John Bunyan wrote the Pilgrims Progress while in prison.
Helen Keller struggled with being deaf and blind and turned negative circumstances into positive assets.
Handel, was paralyzed on his right side, all his money was gone, his creditors were going to imprison him but he rebounded and composed the Messiah.
The list could go on and on.
Paul said in II Corinthians 4:17 18 – “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
He also said in II Timothy 4:7 8 – “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”
Like eagles Christians are built by God to soar above victoriously!
*Sermon Sources: “Spiritual Lessons From the Eagle's Nest” by Philip Harrelson
