Coconut
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- Joined
- Feb 17, 2005
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As Eagles Train Their Young To Fly
In a book by Henry Blackaby and Avery Willis entitled On Mission With God: Living God’s Purpose for His Glory, Willis writes, “He made known His ways to Moses, His deeds to the people of Israel.” (Psalm 103:7). Anyone can see God’s works, but God showed Moses His ways. God wants an intimate relationship with you so that you will know where He is going next by knowing His ways. Willis explained how God leads His people—how He trains them for their mission “as eagles train their young to fly.”
In Exodus 19:4, the Lord says, “You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.”
When an eagle gets ready to build its nest, it finds a crag or a ledge where wild animals cannot get to it. There the eagle weaves such a large, solid nest out of sticks, branches, briars, or bones that even the high, swirling winds cannot blow it down. Then she lines the nest with feathers, cloth, papers or anything soft for comfort. The eagles hatch in that cozy environment. A baby eagle is safe.… The mother eagle knows that these eagles were not born to sit in a nest all of their lives. When the time arrives for them to fly, she reaches into the nest, pulls out all of the soft down and paper with her claw, and lets the little eaglets down on the briars, sticks, bones and branches. They begin to cry out because everywhere they turn they get stuck.… When you get stuck in one of the stages of development, one of God’s ways is to make you uncomfortable by stirring your nest, readying you for your next move.…
After the eagle stirs the nest, she hovers over the nest with her wings to show the eaglets how big she is.… The next thing the mother eagle does is to place her wing on the edge of the nest and say to the eagles, ‘Get off the briars and get on the wing.’ If they won’t do it, she starts beating them until they do.…Once the eagles get on her wing, the mother lurches off the cliff and begins to fly. For the first time in their lives, they experience the ecstasy of flight. As they soar through the air, they begin to understand what they were born to do. The mother eagle takes them back to the nest. They jump back into the briars and jump right back on her wing.
Again she takes them high above the earth. This time, while they are enjoying their flight, she shakes them off. They go tumbling down. Some fly, and some don’t. She dives under those that can’t fly and catches them. Again she takes them up to the heights, lets them relax, and shakes them off again until they learn how to fly.
God had used the same methods as a mother eagle to lead the Israelites out of Egypt to the Promised Land. At first, the Israelites were happy and prospering in Egypt. They were comfortable in their nest, until the Pharaoh decided to enslave them for the purpose of building storehouses. God took away their comfort. The people cried out to God for help, realizing they were made to do more than build storehouses. God showed them how big He was by sending the ten plagues to the Egyptians. The Israelites saw God’s strength and began to trust in Him. As He led them out of captivity He continued to show Himself as their Provider through “the miracles in Egypt, at the Red Sea, the manna, the quail, and the water out of the rock—He showed them He wanted them to step out in faith. If they fell, He picked them up and took them up again and again to teach them to fly.”
In a book by Henry Blackaby and Avery Willis entitled On Mission With God: Living God’s Purpose for His Glory, Willis writes, “He made known His ways to Moses, His deeds to the people of Israel.” (Psalm 103:7). Anyone can see God’s works, but God showed Moses His ways. God wants an intimate relationship with you so that you will know where He is going next by knowing His ways. Willis explained how God leads His people—how He trains them for their mission “as eagles train their young to fly.”
In Exodus 19:4, the Lord says, “You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.”
When an eagle gets ready to build its nest, it finds a crag or a ledge where wild animals cannot get to it. There the eagle weaves such a large, solid nest out of sticks, branches, briars, or bones that even the high, swirling winds cannot blow it down. Then she lines the nest with feathers, cloth, papers or anything soft for comfort. The eagles hatch in that cozy environment. A baby eagle is safe.… The mother eagle knows that these eagles were not born to sit in a nest all of their lives. When the time arrives for them to fly, she reaches into the nest, pulls out all of the soft down and paper with her claw, and lets the little eaglets down on the briars, sticks, bones and branches. They begin to cry out because everywhere they turn they get stuck.… When you get stuck in one of the stages of development, one of God’s ways is to make you uncomfortable by stirring your nest, readying you for your next move.…
After the eagle stirs the nest, she hovers over the nest with her wings to show the eaglets how big she is.… The next thing the mother eagle does is to place her wing on the edge of the nest and say to the eagles, ‘Get off the briars and get on the wing.’ If they won’t do it, she starts beating them until they do.…Once the eagles get on her wing, the mother lurches off the cliff and begins to fly. For the first time in their lives, they experience the ecstasy of flight. As they soar through the air, they begin to understand what they were born to do. The mother eagle takes them back to the nest. They jump back into the briars and jump right back on her wing.
Again she takes them high above the earth. This time, while they are enjoying their flight, she shakes them off. They go tumbling down. Some fly, and some don’t. She dives under those that can’t fly and catches them. Again she takes them up to the heights, lets them relax, and shakes them off again until they learn how to fly.
God had used the same methods as a mother eagle to lead the Israelites out of Egypt to the Promised Land. At first, the Israelites were happy and prospering in Egypt. They were comfortable in their nest, until the Pharaoh decided to enslave them for the purpose of building storehouses. God took away their comfort. The people cried out to God for help, realizing they were made to do more than build storehouses. God showed them how big He was by sending the ten plagues to the Egyptians. The Israelites saw God’s strength and began to trust in Him. As He led them out of captivity He continued to show Himself as their Provider through “the miracles in Egypt, at the Red Sea, the manna, the quail, and the water out of the rock—He showed them He wanted them to step out in faith. If they fell, He picked them up and took them up again and again to teach them to fly.”
