| And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. | |
After choosing a site on a rocky cliff sometimes thousands of feet above the ground, a mother eagle constructs her nest. For protection, she arranges sharp sticks along the perimeter, but inside, the nest is soft and comfortable for the eggs. So, when Ernie Eaglet pops out of his shell, he find his accommodations quite to his liking. ‘Wow! What a view!’ And with Mama Eagle dropping breakfast, lunch, dinner, and an after-dinner mint into his beak every day, he’s a happy eaglet indeed — until his girth increases, and he begins to bump into the sharp sticks Mama purposefully placed around the nest. Suddenly, the once-cozy abode becomes a little uncomfortable.The same goes for us. When what was once so cozy — that group you were in, those people you were linked to, the job you had — gets a little irritating, you may have a tendency to grumble. But you must realize God does this intentionally because He will not allow you to perpetually nest in a place of fatness and flightlessness.Then, just when Ernie thinks he can’t stand one more poke, Mama Eagle comes and, with her powerful wings, bumps the nest — sending Ernie tumbling out. Flapping his little wings frantically yet futilely, he falls hundreds of feet and is about to crash when Mama Eagle scoops him up on her wings and takes him back to the nest. ‘Whew! What was that about?’ Ernie wonders.And for a couple of days, he’s happy again, being served breakfast, brunch, lunch, and dinner. But then the pesky sticks begin to bother him again, and after a couple of days — bump goes the nest and out he falls. Once more, right when he thinks his life is over, there’s Mom bearing him on her wings, returning him to the nest. Now Ernie’s really wondering. ‘Every time I get comfortable, every time I settle back in, Mama comes and turns my nest over. What kind of parent is she, anyway?’ Yet the process is repeated five or six times, until one day — Ernie soars. And as he does, he understands the pokes, the overturned nest, the perilous plummeting were all about spurring him to do what he never would have done on his own. They were all about teaching him to fly.Precious saint, if you’ve been flapping or squawking or crying, this word is for you: God says, ‘I found you in a wasteland. You are the apple of My eye. I’ve got nothing but the best in My heart for you. You’re not going to crash. I’ll always be there to catch you. But I’m going to continue working with you that you might fly.’As a result, I am slowly learning not to be quite as squawky, quite as angry, quite as fearful — but to remember the plan of the Father to bear me on eagles wings. The pokey sticks are preparatory for the overturning of the nest. And the overturned nest is absolutely essential to teach me to fly. |
