Soaring Like An Eagle

“We are created to soar in the high places with Jesus!  Soaring requires resting and waiting upon the winds of the Spirit of God for our movement…God’s ultimate purpose in our lives is to get us to soar!”  This is a quote from Leif Hetland’s book Soaring as Eagles.  A recent trip to Costa Rica with my husband made me think about soaring eagles as I felt like one.
 
For the first time in our lives we decided to go zip lining over the Costa Rican forests.  Twenty-five lines and one suspension bridge took us over spectacular scenery that we would not have been able to see without the zip lines.  God created a magnificent and unique scene under every line.  Massive amounts of water spilled over boulders and carved out a spillway for the water that fell down every mountainside.  In some cases there were blue-green pools at the bottom of the falls.  In others there were more waterfalls of varying sizes and power.  The rocks at the bottom of the ravines were covered in moss.  An abundance of tropical plants surrounded the rocks, some of them in bloom.  Only God could have created these amazing ecosystems.
 
As I flew over these amazing scenes with the aid of my zip line, I began to understand what an eagle might feel like as he catches the currents of the wind.  Once an eagle catches an air thermal he does not have to flap his wings.  He can relax and enjoy the scenery.  Moving from one thermal to the next, he can use his keen eyesight to locate food.  What an eagle sees determines his course of action.  His "sight is at least four times that of a human who has perfect vision," says Leif Hetland in his book.
 
God intends that Believers be like eagles--waiting on His Spirit so that we can move with Him and see the way He does.  The Lord has a perfect perspective, and when we see things His way it puts us at rest and our strength is renewed. (Isaiah 40:31)  The eagle has the ability to soar above the storms and senses the motion of the wind currents.  Approaching storms bring more air currents and enable the eagle to soar higher and fly faster.  The higher the eagle soars the greater his perspective.  We were created to soar also and to see things from a heavenly perspective.
 
In Soaring as Eagles, Hetland says, "The secret to the life of the eagle is mounting up close to the sun and soaring in that place.  We are to continually wait on the Lord so that we get fresh strength...The secret of success in your life is found in waiting on the Lord with eager expectation...You are created to 'mount up (close to God) as eagles'...You are created to soar!"