Eagle's Wings

June 18

Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.
Exodus 19:4

With eagles soaring over their heads and eagles’ nests perched on the ledges of the Sinai mountain range, this image would be very clear to the children of Israel.

As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: So the LORD alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him. - Deuteronomy 32:11–12

After selecting a site on a high precipice, the mother eagle builds her nest. And as her newly-hatched eaglet grows, he’s comfy and cozy, until one day the mother eagle overturns the nest and the young eagle is sent tumbling downward, squawking all the way. Just before he hits the rocks below, however, the mother eagle swoops down and rescues him, bearing him upon her wings. She returns him to the nest, only to overturn it a few days later and bear him on her wings yet again. This process is repeated six or seven times, until one time, the eaglet catches a thermal and starts flying. Higher and higher he goes, set free to experience life in an entirely different dimension with a higher perspective than he ever had previously.

Because faith cannot grow in comfort and security, we’ll all be knocked out of our nests of cozy complacency from time to time. What do we do at such times? “They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength,” Isaiah declares. “They shall mount up with wings as eagles” (40:31). To wait upon the Lord doesn’t mean to passively wait, but to wait on Him as a skilled waiter would wait on the guest of honor. To wait upon the Lord means to lavish praise, to minister, to fellowship day by day, moment by moment. And those who do, mount up with wings as eagles.

This Daily Devotional is an excerpt from the book "A Pillar By Day" by Pastor Jon. "A Pillar By Day" is a collection of 365 short devotions from the Old Testament books of Genesis through Deuteronomy.