Borne on Eagle's Wings

We were sitting at the Park Diner overlooking the lovely Susquehanna River with seats right by huge plate glass windows. It was the celebration lunch for my dad's 85th birthday. To add to the picturesque view, big fat flakes of snow were falling. And then what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a bald eagle!!! It went soaring right by the window, not ten feet away. I watched it glide and could barely shout out, "A bald eagle!" before it was beyond our view. My parents caught a tail glimpse of it.
"That wasn't an eagle," said Dad.
"Oh beyond any shadow of a doubt that was a bald eagle!" I exclaimed.
The four people at the table next to us all smiled and winked at me, nodding their heads.
"Nah!" said Dad.
I threw up my arms and appealed to the folks beside us, "Tell him. Was that without a doubt a bald eagle?"
"Yes!!" they all shouted.
I have never seen a bald eagle so close and so clearly. It was a thrill of a lifetime. I was just sorry my folks only caught a glimpse of it. Later, I googled "bald eagles in Binghamton" and discovered there had been another citing recently in South Binghamton. I don't know if it is the only bald eagle in town, but it made my day. In forty or so years living here in Binghamton, my folks have never seen a bald eagle. Take note Dad, God sent you that gift with a message.

I did my hour of raking my folk's yard before the snow set in, increasing the width of the cleared patch of ground. I have perhaps cleared 1/5th of the yard now. Still a long ways to go, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. And I was reinvigorated by the sight of the eagle. I had not prayed specifically for a bald eagle, but it is on my list of creatures I desperately want to see whenever I head out into nature, particularly in my kayak on the river. So I felt (again) that God knew just what I needed, as well as the desires of my heart, and was graciously granting it even before I had formed the specific thought.

And of course, it reminded me of some of my favorite verses: Isaiah 40:29-31

²⁹ He gives power to the faint,
    and to him who has no might he increases strength.
³⁰ Even youths shall faint and be weary,
    and young men shall fall exhausted;
³¹ but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
    they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
    they shall walk and not faint.

Did you catch that? To him who has NO MIGHT He increases strength. We never need to rely on our own strength. Never. God will renew our strength, and we will soar like eagles, with hearts that will not grow weary or faint. I do not believe this refers to physical strength. We all have evidence that after physical exertion, no matter how hard we pray, there comes a point after which we simply have run out of juice. I think this verse refers to spiritual strength. God will hang on to us when we are so weary we can not hang on to him. If we cannot soar like eagles, He carries us on His wings. We are secure in His salvation.

I stumbled into the house after my hour of raking and dragging the leaves out to the curb. I was covered in mud and leaf pieces, and my arms ached. I didn't feel I could lift another leaf. An hour is my limit. Praise God it is not His!

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Exodus 19:4 

You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself.