1st Sunday Devotional – With Wings Like Eagles

You cannot fly like an eagle with the wings of a wren. ~William Henry Hudson

As I wrote in my last post, our family went on a short vacation to the Barren River Lake. The lake was beautiful and I was especially excited when I read in the information about the place that October started the time of the year when one would most likely see eagles. Ever since the eagle started making a comeback in our nation and people began reporting seeing them in Kentucky now and again, I’ve wanted to see an eagle flying over our farm. That hasn’t happened yet although eagles have been spotted in our county. I have a bird expert neighbor who tells me eagles have flown over my farm. I just haven’t seen them. She says she has spotted them because her peacock sets off a warning and that the eagles are generally very high up in the sky when they go over our area on the way to a river or lake.

I still hope to see one on my farm someday, but until then, I’m happy to see them anywhere.  My son and I saw one flying over the parking area when we are the beach a few weeks ago. That was fun, but I hit the jackpot at Barren River Lake a week or so after that last month. I counted four, maybe five different eagles that I got to see. Only a couple of them were full grown with the white head and tail. The others were young eagles that lacked that distinctive coloring. But they were all eagles and I was excited. The sun was so bright that day I couldn’t see for sure what I was snapping, but fortunately I did get a couple of pictures that showed the eagle fairly well. And you can be sure I was sharing them with my family right away. Now I’m sharing one with you too.

After my daughter saw the picture, she sent me a link about the characteristics of eagles and more about them. Here’s some of what I learned about eagles. The female is bigger than the male eagle. An eagle can have a wingspan of up to seven feet. The eagle’s weight averages twelve or so pounds. An eagle’s eyes are up to eight times sharper than humans’ eyes and contain many more color-sensitive cones. Because of how the eyes are located on the side of the head, an eagle has a wide field of view. Bald eagles’ large wings let them soar as they hunt for food. During migration they can travel 400 to 500 miles a day. So it’s easy to see why eagles convey power along with their beauty. 

Bible scholars say the eagle is often used to show the power and greatness of God. The most familiar biblical reference to eagles is Isaiah 40:31 (NKJV) “But those who wait on 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.”

 This verse in Isaiah reminds us of the the truth that even the strongest of men or women may stumble and fall, but those who trust in the Lord have a strength that this world cannot offer. 

The link I gave you above talks about how we can learn from the eagle and make our life better. One of the hints they shared was that at the end of every day one should count ten things that were a blessing to them each day. 

Can you count ten things you’re thankful for each night? 

Here’s my list for today.

1. An early morning walk with the dogs
2. Seeing my church family
3. Great sermon.
4. Leftover soup.
5. Sunshine
6. Talking to my daughter
7. Being able to be part of an in-person book festival Saturday
8. Glasses to help me see
9. Meeting new readers yesterday
10. All of you.

Thank you for reading!