“In a desert land He found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; He guarded him as the apple of His eye, like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them aloft.“— Deuteronomy 32: 10-11
A mother eagle builds her nest on top of a mountain, usually on an unreachable crag jutting out of a cliff that oversees a chasm thousands of feet below.
After the eagle builds a sturdy, safe nest, she feathers it to be comfortable and cozy. After her eaglets are hatched, she feeds them and shelters them, keeping them nestled and safe.
In this happy setting, they grow fat and strong. Soon the eaglets are wrestling around in the nest, elbowing each other for room, and fighting over food. Wise mom knows it is time to disturb the nest.
Little by little, she pulls out the soft and cushy things. The eaglets must wonder, “What’s with Mom?” as their nest begins to prickle and poke. It’s not so comfortable anymore. So they start working their way up from the bottom of the nest, trying to get away from mom’s antics, until they near the edge.
Wow! What a big world out there! They peek at the horizon then venture a little higher until they are perched on the edge.
Suddenly Mom comes up from behind, thrusts out her strong beak, and pushes one little eaglet over the edge.
At this point, our little hero is convinced that Mom is crazy. He’s falling and falling, apparently plunging to his death. Fighting the currents in the wind, vainly flapping his baby wings, tumbling around out there in the middle of the air, scared to death.
Then, right before he hits bottom, Mom swoops down with her big powerful wings and catches him, carrying him up, back to safety—until next time.
Over and over the eaglet tries to escape the new prickliness of his nest. As he climbs toward the perch, Mom once again pushes him out, and again he falls. Again, she catches him, but one day she won’t need to. Each time he falls, his flapping at the wind gets stronger and more sure. Finally the day comes when he can fly on his own, soaring on the wind and learning to navigate by himself.
And do you know how eagles navigate? By the sun. They look to the light for their guidance.
God teaches us to fly. He allows resistance to make us strong as we learn to navigate life with His Son.
