The moment when nothing seems to go our way, and no matter what we do, we can't seem to make the numbers budge. We want to improve sales, but it's just not happening. The truth is, we've all been there, and sometimes it can feel like eternity before we get out of it. It is only during this time, we should keep our hope and faith intact.
Since I am talking here about keeping our hope and faith with us, it is almost like, learning to fly, let us not forget the king of the air- Eagle, and if we have to learn to fly let us take the lessons from the eagle only. As we learn to trust God we are called to live beyond the obvious, beyond our human perspective and limitations. How this compares with the flight of the eagle we will discover soon. First lets try to learn a little more about the eagle. An eagle can grow to be over three feet tall and have a wingspan of 6-7 feet. It builds its nest high in the mountain. The nest is a sizable construction which can weigh over 1000 pounds. It would be big enough for a human being to lay in it.
Before the female eagle lays its eggs the eagle couple makes sure that the nest is prepared with care, is strong, secure, and has the maximum of comfort, when finally the brood of eaglets hatches the eagle parents are ready to provide everything needed for their little offspring. They watch day and night and feed them with timely precision. The routine for the eaglets is rather simple at first: sleep, open the beak to be fed, and sleep again. Life couldn’t be better. After weeks of sleeping and eating in the cozy nest, the eaglet must learn the first lesson, namely to stand on its feet.
Actually they are forced to get up. At one point mother eagle takes out of the nest all the comfort, the plumage and brings little branches and thorns instead. She even shakes the nest and forces those eaglets to stand up. It is very important that the muscles of the eaglet’s feet develop early. The eagle’s claws are very essential for its survival and need to be powerful. The next step in this learning process is an even greater surprise for these little, but growing, bundles of feathers. The eaglets need to learn how to fly.
This process now includes not only discomfort but even harshness and shock therapy. Mama eagle suddenly grabs one of her brood and soars to great heights. There she releases the eaglet on a horrendous free-fall. First paralyzed by fear the little ball of feathers goes down like a stone and would certainly dash against the rocks if father eagle wouldn’t be there flying underneath to provide a save landing on his powerful wings. Then he carries the eaglet back to the nest. Those who have studied closely the life of the eagles say that this exercise is repeated up to sixteen times until the little eagle realizes that it is created to fly and learns to use its own wings. Eaglets have no other option. They must learn how to fly.
What a tremendous spiritual lesson! Similarly God our eternal father uses in our life the discomfort and even the horrors of being thrown out of our nest and security in order to teach us to trust Him and to use our wings.
God is interested that his children learn to believe, to soar on the current of His Spirit. We can remember personally times of crisis in our life when God takes away all our securities and we feel like being on a free-fall and frankly crying in despair. Praise God that, as father eagle He is watchful, when mama eagle lets go of the little eaglet father eagle picks it up before it dashes against the rocks, similarly God comes to our rescue. God is faithful and carries us through out-most difficult times.
It is comforting to know that the shock the eaglets go through when they suddenly find themselves on a free-fall from a couple of thousand of feet is only part of the process for them to grow up.
We seem to have a choice to just stay in the comfort zone of the nest, avoiding growing up, instead of accepting God’s flying lessons. But if we desire to grow spiritually, God answers our prayers and treats us like the eagle. His purpose is not to make us feel good or comfortable, rather to make us grow and know Him better.
This truly means that our difficulties and even trials and tribulations are not necessarily something to fear and shy away from, but rather to accept as opportunities to develop trust? Yes, this is exactly right. Let us consider it pure joy, whenever we face trials of any kinds, because the testing of our faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that we may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
The key for someone to be able to have the right attitude and focus in such a situation is his/her trust in God’s wise and loving intention. It is this trust, or faith, that will enable the believer to experience God’s faithfulness and to learn to live by His power in the realm of the supernatural. Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. They would be the one who would know how to fly in the difficult times.