Monday, September 27, 2010

Isaiah 40:31 and the Eagle

“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.” (Isaiah 40:31)

Like many, this is one of my favorite verses. I love the eagle analogy and wanted to share what I found regarding some traits that we can learn from the eagle.

FACTS ABOUT THE EAGLE


Eagles are born with big and heavy wings, and part of the survival mechanism they are born with is that they have to learn how to fly without actually flapping their big wings. They have to learn how to do this in order to conserve energy. Eagles can literally die if they expend too much energy flapping their wings during flight as versus soaring without flapping their wings.

As a result, what eagles have to learn to do very early on in order to be able to soar without flapping their wings, is to wait for what are called wind thermals to come up on them. A wind thermal is a big gust of wind that will rise up from the atmosphere. Sometimes eagles will remain perched for days before they can catch a good, strong wind thermal, where they can then launch onto and combine a mixture of flying and soaring on that strong wind thermal to get them to where they want to go.

If we apply this to ourselves, then we are the eagle and the wings of the eagle represent our faith in God. The wind thermals the eagles fly on represent the Holy Spirit.

We have to learn patience and wait on God's timing. When we wait for Him and allow the Holy Spirit to guide us then we are operating in the Spirit and nothing will be impossible for us. If, however, we try to work in our own strength, then we will be "flapping our wings" frustrated and disillusioned. I love the verse in Zechariah 4:6 that reminds us that is not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit says the Lord.

A LEAP OF FAITH
The eagle has to take that big leap off the edge of the cliff in order to be able to fly and soar on those wind thermals. If the eagle does not take flight on those wind thermals when they do come up on him, he will forever stay perched and he will die on the cliff due to starvation.
Sooner or later, every single Christian will have to make that big choice for their lives. Who will they decide to serve and follow in this life? Do they follow and serve their own self and their own self-interests, doing what they want to do with their lives. Or do they decide to fully surrender every part of their life over to the Lord and go with His divine plan for their lives rather than their own.

If you decide to follow and serve the Lord in his life, then sooner or later God will call you and you will then have to take that big leap off the edge of the cliff in order to learn how to fly into the calling that He has placed on your life.

And just as the wings of the eagle are the only thing that will allow them to fly and soar on those wind thermals, in the same way the only thing that will allow you to fly on the call that God has placed on your life is your faith and belief in the Lord. If you do not have enough faith, belief and confidence in the Lord and His Holy Spirit to guide you and empower you for this call, then nothing will ever happen.

I wonder how many Christians have missed out on their true callings from the Lord because they did not have enough faith and belief in Him to take flight on the Holy Spirit like the eagles have learned how to do on those wind thermals?

EAGLES ARE MASTER FISHERMAN


Eagles are also considered master fisherman. They are very good in locking in on their prey and then swooping down to catch them. How many times have you seen videos where an eagle will swoop down on a body of water and pick up a fish swimming near the surface with perfect accuracy and catching them on the very first attempt. They are absolute masters at hunting down and catching their prey, whether that prey be on land or in the water.


Just as eagles are considered to be master fisherman with how they can catch fish in water – we, as Christians, have been called by the Lord Himself to be “fishers of men,” just like He and His apostles were at the very beginning of the New Testament.

Our number one job in this life is to try and get as many people saved as we possibly can. Personal evangelism within our own sphere of influence is something that each and every Christian can do, and it is something that we should always keep our radars up for – as you never know when the Holy Spirit will move on you to lead you to someone He will want you to witness to, whether it be someone you might know or a complete, total stranger.

EAGLES LIVE ON HIGHER GROUND
For the most part, eagles will always be found living on some type of higher ground. As Christians, we are already living on higher ground as compared to the rest of the world as a result of who we are in Christ.

We are now born again children of the Most High God. We are now kings and priests of the Lord. We all have the Holy Spirit, along His power and knowledge, residing on the inside of us to help lead us, sanctify us and empower us so we can all be used by the Lord in a mighty way for ministry.

This is why the Lord is calling all of us to stay in the world, but not to be an actual part of the world. In other words, we are to be in the world, but not of the world. We are to keep ourselves separate from the corruption, pollution, vices and sins of this world so God can keep us on the straight and narrow road for the rest of our earthly lives.

We live on this higher ground as a result of our position in Jesus, and we always need to keep reminding ourselves that we are living on this higher ground and to stay on that higher ground, as the world will always do everything it can to try and drag us down into their lower way of living.

EAGLES ARE EXTREMELY BOLD, COURAGEOUS AND POWERFUL
Another very powerful trait of the eagle is that they are very bold, courageous and powerful. Eagles have literally been seen engaging with poisonous snakes and tearing their heads off with their beak. They have been seen going right through major storm clouds, where most birds will fly away and hide in safety until the storm has passed.

God is calling all of us to become good and mighty soldiers of Jesus Christ. He is asking all of us to put on His armor and just like the eagle has no fear of any man, beast or snake – in the same way we should have no fear since we all have God Himself totally on our side. The Bible tells us that greater is He that is in us than he who is in the world. David perfectly proved that point when he took out Goliath with one well placed blow.

EAGLES ARE CONSIDERED MAJESTIC
Due to the way eagles look and act, many people consider them almost majestic and invincible. They seem to have a look of royalty about them.

In the same way, we, as Christians, have this same air of royalty about us since we are now considered kings and priests of the Lord due to the sacrifice that Jesus has personally made for all of us with His death on the cross.

This majestic royalty that we now have operating through us all comes direct from Jesus. It does not come directly from us, or any of the good works that we may have done to-date for the Lord. It all comes to us as a direct result of Jesus dying on the cross for all of our sins.

Only the blood that Jesus has personally shed for each and everyone of us on the cross makes us kings and priests before Him.

EAGLES ARE VERY PATIENT
Another very interesting quality that eagles have is that they are very patient. Documentary film crews have filmed eagles spotting rabbits they they will target as prey. Once the rabbit senses the danger, he will go into hiding in a hole, sometimes for as long as an hour or two before he finally comes back out.

The eagle will then wait for that hour or two until the rabbit comes back out. And once he does, the eagle will then swoop down and catch him within seconds. As a result of his patience, the eagle will be rewarded with a big meal.

In the same way, we all need the patience of the eagle, especially in the type of world we now live in with everything being done at breakneck speed, and people’s fuses being shortened as a result of all of the high stress that we are all forced to live with.

That is why one of the 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit is the fruit of patience, as we all need His patience operating through us in order to be able to weather the storm clouds of this turbulent life.

THE EAGLE HAS TWO SETS OF EYES
Another fascinating quality that eagles have is that they have two sets of eyes. The first set is their natural eye which they have when they are in a resting mode.

However, when they start to take flight on these strong wind thermals, they have a second eye that comes in on them. This second eye enables them to fly on these strong wind thermals without damaging their original eye. This second eye is also used when they are seen flying through actual storm clouds. The heavy winds from a storm cloud could damage their normal, natural eye and this second eye gives them a protective covering as they are navigating through these heavy storm clouds.

As Christians, we also have two sets of eyes operating in us. The first set is our normal, natural eye with which we use to see the natural world in which we live in. However, we also have a second set of eyes and that is the eyes of the Holy Spirit.

Since we all have the Holy Spirit living on the inside of us, we also have His eyes available to us at times to see things from His perspective. As you start to draw closer to the Lord in your own personal relationship with Him, there will be times that He will allow you to “see” things as He sees them. You will start “seeing” what certain Scripture verses may mean. You will start to “see” what the truth is in many of the matters of your own personal life.

When this starts to occur, this is the Holy Spirit Himself allowing you to see things through His eyes, not your eye. This is highly, supernatural event when it starts to occur. It is God Himself literally allowing you to see things from His point of view and perspective.

The Bible says that the truth will set you free. But you first have to see what that truth is before it can start to set you free. That is why we all need the eyes of the Holy Spirit operating in us, so we can start to see what the truth really is on many of the matters and issues in our own personal lives.

Just like the eagle needs his two sets of eyes in order to be able to live and survive in this world, in the same way we need both our natural eyes and the eyes of the Holy Spirit operating in us to be able to properly work and function for the Lord in this life.

THE NESTS OF EAGLES ARE BUILT IN THE WILDERNESS
When baby eagles are first born, the mother eagle will build the nest in which to raise up her newborns in the wilderness, away from mainstream society. This is done so she can safely raise them up without any harm coming to them.

In the same way, the Lord will sometimes build up His eagles in a wilderness type setting. Again, Moses was in the backside of the desert for 40 years before God called him out to complete the greatest deliverance mission of all time. David was in the caves of the wilderness for a number of years, possibly for 13-15 years, before he was called out by God to become the greatest king that Israel has ever had.


Some of you who are reading this right now may be in your wilderness setting with the Lord, where He is slowly raising you up in your calling for Him. It is sometimes in these wilderness type settings that your greatest strides in spiritual growth are actually made in Him.

Once you isolate all of the main qualities of the eagle, I do not think it is a coincidence that they all perfectly line up with what God would like to have worked into each one of us. I believe when God says in the above verse from Isaiah that we will mount up with wings like eagles, He is meaning exactly what He is saying in this verse.


Information found at:


http://www.bible-knowledge.com/index.php?s=isaiah+40%3A31