On Wings like Eagles!!

By Helen Jesze, 11^th February 2022

I love this Bible verse! It is so full of hope and promise; of assurance that God knows we often feel weak or vulnerable, needing new strength, and he shows us one way to have our strength renewed. This translation (KJV) says that when we “wait upon the Lord” he will give us new strength. It is good to look at this verse in context. When we read from verse 28 in the NIV it goes like this:

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but 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.”

First God asks if we haven’t heard or known that he is the Lord of all the earth, the Creator. He goes on to give us a picture of his greatness and his power, and says he himself, never grows weary or tired; even young men, who are usually full of life and vigour, can grow weary, stumble and fall, but God does not even know the meaning of the word! He shows us he is the answer.

The King James Version says in verse 31, that those who “wait upon” the Lord will have their strength renewed. The NIV says those who “hope in the Lord”. Another translation says: those who “trust in the Lord”. If we “wait upon” the Lord, then we will be hoping and trusting him for the answers. Spending time in prayer, in reading his Word, in worship and praise, enjoying his presence are all ways we can have our strength renewed. Sometimes I lay on my bed, listening to a CD or cassette tape (yes, I still have some!!) with worship music on, or someone reading from the Bible and let that sink into my spirit and my soul, gathering strength for my day.

God promises that we will run and not grow weary, walk and not faint, and that we will even “soar like an eagle” (NIV), and it’s that I would like to unpack a little here. The KJV states “mount up” like an eagle. Eagles have wing-spans of 6 to 7.5 feet, some even bigger. They soar high in the sky, but do not ‘fly’ as most birds. The eagle soars but instead of flapping its wings, it waits on a rock for the thermal winds, till an appropriate air-current comes, then he lets himself be carried high, balancing and adjusting his wings perfectly in the rush of air.

The eagle loves the storm and whereas other birds run for cover, he gives an exultant scream and lets the storm-winds carry him to even greater heights. The wind of the Holy Spirit wants to carry us to a higher level and take the strain and effort out of our Christian life, when we follow his leading. Just like the eagle adjusts to the air current, we must learn to adjust and be adaptable so that we will not be swept off our feet by the wind of problems and new situations.

When somebody climbs a ladder or goes up steps, they go up gradually to reach a new height. But when a person gets on a horse, we call it “mounting the horse”. In one go, the person reaches a higher level than the ground on which he was standing before. God is saying that we can soar but also “mount” up like the eagle, meaning that he will cause us to gain new spiritual revelation and to new places in God, by the higher level to which he brings us. The eagle is able to fly so high and does not flap its wings but mounts the air-currents, because it has cylindrical bones and a built-in air-borne capacity. Job 39:27 also states that the eagle “mounts” or “climbs” rather than flies.

King Solomon said in Proverbs that one thing he could not understand was “the way of an eagle in the air”. This is a picture of the Christian, who, without visible support and human help, acting like God, living from supernatural sources, doing what other people cannot do, lives his life in this world. This is not possible in our own strength and ability, but only by God’s power in us.

The eagle uses its wings for another important reason, and that is to show its babies how big and strong they are. The mother eagle does this just when it is time to teach them to fly. She pecks all the soft moss, lamb’s wool and feathers out of the nest until the babies are sitting on the bare thorny branches. Then she lifts one eaglet onto the cliff, and stretches out her huge wings, hovering in front of him. Then she tips him over the cliff and he is falling, falling … But before he smashes onto the rocks below, Mother Eagle swoops down, catches him on those wings and takes him up to the top again. She repeats this until he realises he too, has got some things at the side – not as big as Mum’s – and begins to stretch them out, and he learns to fly.

This is like us when God shows us he is more interested in our character than our comfort, and says it is time we left the bottle and nappy stage, so he takes away some of our securities. When we are young Christians God shows us how mighty and wonderful he is. He spreads out his wings of power and answered prayer and we are thrilled. Then comes the time when he pushes us ‘over our cliff ‘. We are sure he is going to finish us off, that there is no way out of, then at the last moment he scoops us up, coming to our aid. He does this often, for he is teaching us to spiritually fly!

I once heard a song about eagle Christians. The chorus went like this:

Rise and soar into the sunlight rays Using both your wings of prayer and praise. Mount like eagles, higher in the sky, And you’ll find things look so different when you fly!

So, I’d like to encourage you today to wait upon the Lord, find fresh strength and life in him, and mount up on your wings of prayer and praise. If you are in a storm at present, let God show you how he can use it to bring you even higher in him, just as the eagle ‘mounts’ on the storm-wind.

We surely will find that things look so different when we fly!