Eagle Christians

The eagle is the king of the birds. No other bird compares with the eagle in superiority and power. In ancient times, every mountain peak was crowned with an eagle’s nest and the eagle is referred to no less that 32 times in Scripture. Isaiah tells us “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.” (40:31). In other words, if we yield our lives to God; if we surrender our wills to the Lord, we shall renew our strength and mount up with wings as eagles. God promises that you and I can be eagle Christians.

Eagle Observations 

1. The eagle builds his nest in the clefts of the rock. Job put it this way: “Does the eagle soar at your command and build his nest on high? He dwells on a cliff and stays there at night; a rocky crag is his stronghold.” Job 39:27-28. The Psalmist spoke of the “Rock that is higher than I.”

For the eagle Christian, God promises to set us on high places. There is a rock in a high place that is a safe refuge for the people of God. We make our nests in the Rock of Ages, the Rock of salvation, Christ, the solid Rock - the Rock of security, the Rock of assurance and safety. We dwell in God who is our strong dwelling place. In our grief and sorrow, disappointment and discouragement, hurt and despair, we fly to the high Rock. Like the Psalmist we seek shelter in His presence: “Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge.” Psalm 62:5-7.

2. The eagle rises above the storms of life. The eagle takes advantage of the wind to soar, to mount up high in the heavens. They get high above the fog and the clouds. Someone said the eagle soars above the air as if she would visit heaven itself.

David remembered God’s promise when life closed in on him. His home and hometown burned to ashes. His family and families of his friends suffered captivity by a band of outlaws. And, if that was not enough, his own men began blaming him for the catastrophe and threatened to kill him. Well, how did David handle the situation? The Bible says, “David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God.” 1 Samuel 30:6. His life was renewed like the eagles; brushing away his tears; he reorganized his men, went forth to battle, conquered his enemies and was victorious over all. He remembered the wings God had given him and like eagles, rose above the storm.

3. Eagles usually deal with their enemies by simply soaring up out of their reach.

This is what eagle Christians do. We do not fight, fuss, curse, seek vengeance, belittle, or degrade. We simply soar out of the enemies reach, praying for them in Jesus’ name as we fly upwards and away. As we get nearer to God, Satan and our enemies cannot reach us. Satan cannot touch us if we will only direct our lives toward the Son of righteousness who comes to our aid with healing in His wings. The Psalmist said, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” Psalm 91:1.

4. Another observation we make is how mom and pop eagle cares for their young. The eagle mates live together beside the nest and are devoted to each other. The care for their young is a beautiful and striking picture. It reminds me of the declaration of the Deuteronomist, “As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings.” Deuteronomy 32:11. This verse seems to illustrate mother eagle teaching the little ones to fly. She pushes the baby eagle out of the nest on top of the cliff. If the eaglet is unable to fly, father eagle swoops down swiftly, spreads out his wings under the little one, and bears it up on his wings.

Is this not how our Father deals with us? He too will try His people. He will push us out into the world to fend for ourselves. He will push us out of the nest, like mother eagle, where it seems like we are either to fly or die. But glory to God, if it seems as though we are unable to make it on our own, God swoops down and lifts us up on His mighty wings. God said, “I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself” Exodus 19:4b. Now isn’t that Good News? Isn’t it Good News to know that God bears our pains and grief on His eagle wings? I realize that sometimes, like the Hebrew children, we faint along the way. Yet, God is always there to bear us up on His mighty wings.

5. Of course, we cannot overlook the fact that the eagle has exceptional eyesight. Their eyes are strong and sharp. As he flies to the heights, he looks into the vast beyond and sees far into the distance.

God has also endowed His children with exceptional sight. He gives us visions of insight and outsight. We see what unbelief miss and miss what unbelief see. God empowers us to see beneath outward distortions and to see His image in every man. You and I can lift up our eyes to the everlasting hills and see a city paved with streets of gold; we see a King seated on a throne with four and twenty elders bowing and casting their crowns before Him. Unbelief cannot see this. God gives His people power to see life through spiritual eyes. For unbelief, the act of seeing remains physical, material, superficial. They are like the blind nine whom God healed of leprosy, their bodies were healed, but they were still blind. It is wonderful when God relieves us of our physical ailments, but it is better to be able to see. With spiritual eyes, we see sin as He sees it; we see goodness, love and truth as He sees them. We see humanity as God sees us.

Then, as we live for Him and fulfill the destiny He has set before us, we can say with Paul, “So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven” Acts 26:19.

Second only to introducing me to Ancient of Days, my godly parents gave me a gift that empowered me for life. They gave me "wings.” Saundra

The Eagle

He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ring’d with the azure world, he stands.

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson