Isaiah, chapter 40, verse 31 says, "Those who wind tightly upon God will be stronger than if they try to go alone.
They will mount up on wings like eagles."
Like eagles? What is so special about eagles?
I asked my friend Mickey, who is a bush pilot in Alaska, "What's so special about how eagles fly?" Mickey's
response was an invitation into his plane. He took me into the high mountains above Ketchikan, and way back beside a
nameless lake, we found a pair of bald eagles playing on the high air currents. White heads, seven foot wing spans, orange
beaks, glistening feathers, two eagles coasting on the wind.
"Watch," said Mickey. He took his tiny single-engine bush plane down as close to the tips of the trees as possible,
slowed it down to where we were almost in a stall, and the eagles came right up to the tip of the right wing as if flying
in formation with us.
"Watch how they fly," said Mickey. And I watched. The eagles hung exactly on the tip of our wing, their feathers
hardly moving, staying right beside us. It was like watching the Blue Angels flying at an air show! Every once in a while I
could see a pinion move just slightly, or just the very tip of the wing would lift or would drop. But mostly, the eagle just
glided along beside us above the Alaskan wilderness. It was beyond belief, an awe-inspiring ten minutes.
We finally pulled up and left the eagles to play with the wind around their lake. Then Mickey said, "What you really
need to do is watch what happens when Mama kicks the eaglets out of the nest."
High, high mountains. Big tall tree. Nest in top of tree. Giant
nest of sticks. But, Mother has taken downy feathers and lined the
nest, transforming it into a soft, safe place to grow. Then, all of a
sudden, Mama eagle comes home, comes down amidst her "ready-to-fly"
eaglets and begins tearing up the nest, ripping it to shreds, pulling
it this way and that way until there is nothing left except painful
sticks and branches sticking straight up. All the baby eaglets are out
on the edge of the nest screaming, "Mom! Mom! Why are you doing this?
Are you OK? Mom?"
It's an ugly sight.
Then Mom chooses one of the eaglets that's clear out on the edge of the nest never wanting to get back into that
stickery bed again. Mama eagle takes her giant wings and knocks baby eaglet right out of the nest. As he falls you can hear
his scream, "Mommmm!?!?!" Throughout the fall he is flapping as hard as he can possibly flap his wings. Then
Mama eagle dives down, swoops underneath and catches the baby eaglet on her back. You can almost hear the baby
eaglet, "Mom! I thought I was going to die! What's going on?"
Mama eagle quietly flies up until she's no more than a dot high in the sky. Then she turns upside down and knocks
her baby off again. His screeches of "Mommmm!" echo throughout the canyons as he flaps uselessly. Sometimes it takes
five or six different drops before baby eagle learns the Great Truth of eagle life. "You don't fly by flapping your wings. You
fly by relaxing into the current. Just like Mama."
I believe that's the message Isaiah was sharing in chapter 40, verse 31. "Those who have decided to trust God by
winding on Him with everything in their life are stronger than if they just try and go alone. They are going to mount on the
wind like eagles."
Think about what that means for you. Your life does not depend on how fast you can flapfor your energetic actions
are not the issue. Your trust is the issue.
Life with God is leaning back into his arms. It's trusting the currents of His love. It's letting Him lead you, guide
you, sweep you up to wherever He needs you to fly.
Wind on Him today. Relax in Him today. Spread your wings, and let God fly you right where He needs you to be.
The adventure is just beginning!
Dick Duerksen
