I can’t think of a one of our feathered friends that I don’t like.

I love it when the Lord teaches us lessons in His Word by the use of the things of nature to do so.  I suppose that one of the things I like about hunting is just the being out there in God’s nature and seeing all the beautiful and wonderful things that He created.  But, you don’t have to be a hunter to enjoy them.  Just go hiking or even driving and behold the wonders of His creation.

One category of creatures He gave us was the “fowls that fly above the earth.”  I can’t think of a one of our feathered friends that I don’t like.  Oh, I suppose the Turkey Buzzard isn’t all that pretty, but God had a reason for him and that’s good enough for me.  However, I’m sort of partial to those that taste good.

There is, however, one that I love and consider one of the most majestic and awesome of His fowl creatures, the eagle.  I’ve seen many of them in the wild and can attest that they are beautiful birds.  Once, while deer hunting in Utah, I came around a turn in the road and there in front of me was old dead tree with many limbs on it.  Perched on its limbs were 11 bald eagles.  It is a picture that will remain in my mind until the day I die.  As I look back and think of that scene, it just drives me crazy that I didn’t have a camera with me.  And it was before cell phones with cameras in them.

Someone once said “You can’t fly with the eagles at dawn if you hoot with the owls at night.”  I remind my wife of this quite often as I’m an early riser and she isn’t.  That’s a humorous way of using eagles as a metaphor but, as seen in our opening passage from Isaiah, God has provided us with metaphorical lessons also using eagles.  I’m going to try and present you a lesson today using God’s Word and His majestic bird, the eagle.

What brought this lesson to my mind is something I read the other day about eagles and it struck me as a great picture that would tie in with some things God said about eagles.  I do not know who is the author of the piece I chanced upon, but let me relate it to you as I read it.

    “Do you know what an eagle does when a storm is coming?  The eagle will fly to a high spot and wait for the winds to arrive.  When the storm hits, the eagle will move its wings, so that the wind will pick it up and lift it above the storm.

    While the storm rages below, the eagle soars above.  The eagle does not escape the storm.  It simply uses the storm to lift it higher.

    When the storms of life come upon us, rise above them.  Let the winds that bring turmoil into our lives lift us higher.  We can overcome the storm.”

Here are the thoughts that came to my mind as I read the above article.  Just as we read in the passage from Isaiah, when the “storms” come upon us, and we certainly know that, in many and varied fashions, they do, just know that as God gives the eagle the strength to rise above them, He does the same for us.

I’m also reminded of a couple of great old hymns that teach us about “storms” and their effect on us.  One of them is “Strength Through Adversity.”  The writer of it talks about all of the things we endure throughout our lives.  The “heartaches and tears.”  All the “hills we’ve had to climb” the “blood and sweat and grime” and “for blinding storms and burning heat.”  The message of his song is that, he’s “grateful” for them because they were the “things that made me strong.”  The “things that made me grow.”

The other old hymn isn’t in many of our newer hymnals and actually is listed under two different titles in the songbooks where it’s found.  It’s either “Stand By Me” or “When The Storms of Life Are Raging.”  This author also writes about the types of “storms” that we face while passing through this life.  His song message is: that the One who “rules wind and water,” and the One who “never lost a battle” is standing by us.  The One who takes us through the “storms” and gives us the strength to rise above them.

God has prepared the eagle to weather the “storms.”  That’s the secret to our weathering the “storms” of our lives - be prepared for them.  I’m reminded of a farmer who woke up his hired hand in the middle of the night and implored him to get up and get things prepared for a storm that was coming.  The old hired hand just told his boss, “I can sleep when the wind blows.”

The farmer, upset because his employee didn’t jump up and go to work, went out and checked and found everything already tied down or shut up and ready for the storm.  And that’s when the farmer understood what his hired hand meant when he said, “I can sleep when the wind blows.”

The point of that little closing story is this: When you’re prepared, mentally, physically and especially spiritually, you have no fear of “storms.”  And the preparation isn’t at all complicated.  Simply put - be “IN” the One who has the power over the “storms.”  In Matthew the 8th chapter and Luke the 8th chapter, we find the account of Jesus and His disciples in a small boat in a storm on the Sea of Galilee.  Jesus “rebuked” the wind and the raging water and the storm ended.  As disciples of Christ, we too are with the One who “commands” the “storms” and they obey Him.

And remember this: “storms” are only found on this earth.  In this life.  There won’t be any “storms” in heaven.  I think it appropriate that we close with the passage we started this lesson with: “But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.  They will soar high on wings like eagles.  They will run and not grow weary.  They will walk and not faint.  (Isa. 4031)

Respectfully submitted,

Ron Covey