Eagle Power

Thursday, January 16, 2014

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I've always been fascinated by eagles. I just didn't get to see many of them around New York City. I mean, except for the ones that came from Philadelphia to play the Giants occasionally. But it's always been an exciting event for me to see an eagle. When one of my Navajo friends and I were together recently, I asked him about eagles. Of course he sees a lot more of them. And he told me about some amazing observations that he's made about them.

For example, he has watched an eagle leave their cliff-top nest and then begin to drop immediately into that valley below. Now you would expect them to start flapping their wings madly. Right? No, they don't do that to stop their fall. In fact, the eagle is virtually powerless to help himself. Does he crash? No. We've all seen pictures of that eagle soaring. So if the eagle can't do it, how does he fly? Wind currents from the valley below literally lift that eagle. His job isn't to flap his wings; it's to wait for the wind.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Eagle Power."

As my Navajo friend told me about where the power comes from for the eagle's flight, I couldn't stop thinking about one of my favorite passages in the Bible; maybe one of yours. Our word for today from the Word of God, Isaiah chapter 40, beginning at verse 28, "Do you know? Have you not heard the Lord is the everlasting God? He's 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 youth 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."

Now, here's a mighty God who is never tired, never weary and powerless people. Maybe this is where you get into the picture. Maybe weary is a good word for you right now. Maybe you're physically depleted or you're emotionally spent, mentally shot. This is great news for people who don't have much left. Maybe you're weak like it says here. Your resources are just no match for the challenges. Your wisdom is not enough to figure this one out. You can contribute little or nothing to an answer. Sounds like the eagle! This says you soar on wings like eagles.

The eagle virtually has nothing to do with his ability to fly. He's lifted by a force outside of himself to do things he could never do on his own. And God says He wants to do that for you. This is great! The eagle's flight has nothing to do with the eagle's strength. God says, "Your flight in these powerless times has nothing to do with your strength. So when you're in a time of weakness, or weariness, or powerlessness you have every reason to be expectant, not depressed. This is a time when there's not much of you, but when there's going to be a whole lot of God. What God? The everlasting God, Isaiah said, the Creator of the ends of the earth.

Do you know, it's at the moments of powerlessness that we finally recognize, even our starting point with a relationship with the God who made us. For that's when we realize we need someone else to lift us, even to ever get to heaven when we die, to ever have our sins forgiven, to ever have the emptiness in our heart filled, to find the love that's eluded us in a lifetime of relationships. And when we realize we have nothing to contribute, we cannot possibly fly our way out of this flapping our wings is when we finally surrender to a Savior named Jesus.

You are that one step of surrender away from experiencing the greatest love and power in the universe. I don't know if you've ever begun a relationship with Jesus. If you never have, and you want to get that settled, I hope you'll join me at our website ANewStory.com. I think you can come away from there having begun that relationship.

So those who hope in Him will renew their strength. You fly on your own, you're going to crash. Maybe you're in a weak or weary time. Well, don't start flapping your wings madly. God says you're an eagle. You'll eventually soar if you do what you're supposed to do; trust your Creator's strength and ride on His wind.