"They that wait upon 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)

Have you ever wondered why Isaiah 40:31 is written the way it is?
Question: Why is the Eagle mentioned specifically?
Question: What is so special about Eagles that they have a place in the bible?
Question: What is the linkage between waiting upon the Lord and renewal of strength?
Question: Why is it that when you mount up with wings like eagles, you do not get tired?

Read on and you will find the answer.

The eagle is a creation of God. It is the most majestic of all birds and is mentioned many times in the bible. In fact, the eagle is mentioned 38 times, much more than the dove or other birds. -

An eagle is around 90 cm tall and reaches over 2 m between the wings.
She builds her nest on the cliff or in a high tree. The nest is so large that a human can sleep in it. It can weigh 700 kg and is also comfortable.

With the basis of God's word, we shall see what the king of birds can show us concerning truths about God, and also about Christians. May the practical lessons contained in here be of encouragement to you. God Bless.

Lesson 1: All Baby Eagles Must Learn To Fly

High in the mountains, a baby eagle is born. Like all other babies, there are two things that baby eagles, known as eaglets, love to do: eat and sleep. The baby eagle would spend its initial life in the comfort of the nest. Everyday, mama eagle would find food and drop it directly into the open mouths of the hungry eaglet. With a satisfied stomach, the eaglet
then goes to sleep and the cycle continues when it becomes hungry again.

This goes on for a few weeks, until one day, mama eagle would just hover over the nest. This time, there is no food. After hovering a few rounds, mama eagle would make a dive into the nest and begins to shake it violently. She then takes one of her babies in her mouth and starts soaring into the skies. The baby eaglet begins to tremble, "Mama is mad! Mama
is mad!" Suddenly, she drops the baby eaglet who starts to struggle. Just before the eaglet smashes against the rocks, mama eagle would sweep down and pick it up. This goes on for about five to eight times.
 
 

The eaglet starts to wonder why mama is doing this. Every time it is being dropped from the sky, the eaglet would struggle by flapping its wings.
"Mama can fly. I want to fly like her too!", the eaglet says to itself.
What beautiful picture! Mama is teaching her young to fly. At about the fourteenth to fifteenth try, the eaglet begins to fly.

Relevance
Christians are like baby eagles, comfortable in the nest. They come to church once a week for food. They would wait for pastor to drop "spiritual" food into their mouths. When service is over, they would go home, "sleep" for a few days and the cycle continues, until one day, something happens and they struggle. The nest gets shaken and theydon't know what to do.

"It's the devil! It's the devil!" they exclaim. No, it's not! It's  just our loving Father who allows our nest to be shaken because He wants us to grow into maturity, so that we can fly. It's no point being an eagle that cannot fly.

The Word of God says in Exodus 19:4 that God bare the children of Israel on eagles' wings. Here we see the eagle symbolise God. The way mama eagle treats her young shows us how God treats His children. Just when it seems like we're going under ... SWISH ... mama eagle, God, comes and picks us up. In the world, they push people upward when they are going up. But God lets us fall down to get us up. Hard times come, but after a couple of times I start to pray a little bit more. I start to read God's word a little bit more. And suddenly I realise that the answers to my prayers are coming. Hard times always come but I find I'm not helpless, no, I see that I can stand on God's word. What has happened? I've learned to spread my wings! I've learned to fly. God carries us supernaturally through all our trials, even if we don't feel it. Yea, who can see the wind.

While mama eagle teaches her young to use their own wings, God teaches us to Believe His word and use our Faith.

Lesson 2: Eagles Are Made For The High Places

Unlike other birds that fly in the lowlands, eagles are made to fly in the high places, out of sight of the naked human eye and out of range of  the hunter's rifle.

Relevance
God made us to fly in the high places, free from the world's control.
A tourist to the Jurong Bird Park once commented that the eagles there looked very clean. In reply, the bird-keeper said: "When eagles are in freedom, they are the cleanest birds. But when they are in captivity,  they are the dirtiest."

God made us pure and holy to conform to the image of His Son. If Christians are in captivity, that is subjected to the ways of the world, we can be the "dirtiest" of all creatures. Unless we "fly" in the high places, out of the world's control, and according to how God has made us, we'll remain the dirtiest of creatures.
Lesson 3: Eagles Do Not Fly, They Soar

Eagles do not fly like other birds, flapping their wings profusely and using their own strength. Instead, eagles SOAR majestically, making use of the wind currents to gain height. What makes the eagle so special is that she sits on the rock and reads the wind and when the time is perfect she takes off and soars upward with her great wings. There is a special up going wind where the eagle rides the wind and circle higher and higher
toward the sky, without effort. She just spreads her wings.

Relevance
The wind is referred many times in the bible as the Holy Spirit. We can learn to co-operate with the Holy Spirit and let Him lift us closer to Jesus. The eagle in this case is the Christian who is being lifted by the Holy Spirit up and closer to Jesus. Like eagles, we should learn to ride on the current of the Holy Spirit, instead of relying on our own strength.

Only then can we "gain height" to "fly" in the high places. Isaiah 40:31 talks about growing in Christ, that happens when we have fellowship with Him in the Spirit.

Lesson 4: Eagles Go Through Specific Periods Of Renewal

When they are about 60 years old, eagles go through a period of renewal. An eagle would find a secret place up in the mountains. It would start to claw at its face and tear out the feathers that have been damaged over the years. As a result, it would bleed badly. The eagle would then wait patiently for the rays of the sun to heal it. Through this, the eagle
renews its strength by getting rid of the unnecessary things otherwise it would not be able to live till 120 years that it normally does.

Relevance
Like eagles, Christians need to go through a renewal period sometime in our lives, to rid ourselves of unnecessary things and to wait upon the Lord.
Renewal is a divine principle where God cuts off the unfruitful things in us so as to bring out the fruitful.

Lesson 5: Eagles Get Sick, Just Like Humans

When an eagle gets sick, it does not go to the doctor. It simply finds a favourite spot in the mountains and await the rays of the sun to heal it.
The sun plays a major role in the life of an eagle and as such, is a major source of healing too.

Relevance
When we get sick, besides going to the doctor, do we also look to the Lord who plays a major role in our lives as our source of healing?
 

Lesson 6: Every Eagle Has To Die

When an eagle is about to die, it will fly to its favourite spot in the mountains, wraps its wings round itself, looks at the sun's rays and dies.

Relevance
Ideally, all Christians should die looking towards Jesus as our source of hope and comfort.