I often say that I became a bird watcher because the Lord Jesus told me to. “Consider the birds of the air” Jesus said, (Matthew 6:26), and so I did. And what great fun it has been ever since. I love to watch and consider the Canadian geese, cormorants, mallard ducks, mockingbirds, starlings, gamble’s quail, and assorted hummingbirds. What a delight just to watch them, and as Jesus said, to consider the Father’s astonishing creativity and faithful care for them and for us.

But it was a true God Sighting for Rita and me last Friday to see and consider two bald eagles in the McCormick Ranch area. There, high in an old cottonwood alongside a lake we caught sight of a magnificent bald eagle. With its head crowned white it exercised a commanding view over the realm. Then we looked up from the tree and saw a second eagle playfully riding back and forth in the thermal currents. Without even a flap of its wings it sailed. Then suddenly swooping downward towards the cottonwood it bid its partner in the tree to play. Rita and I stood speechless as the two danced in the wind and then rocketed upward. I envied them for their ease and lightness, their playfulness. It was all so effortless for them and so much fun! When they had soared from our sight, Rita and I recovered our speech, and recited the words of the prophet Isaiah: “Those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles” (Isaiah 40:31). Oh to soar with the eagles!

That is our possibility, our potential today, as we wait on the Lord. If we are worn down by life, weary and discouraged about the economy, and worried about the future, the Lord can breathe his very life and power into us as we spend time with Him and join Him in the dance.   

In ancient Israel they regarded the yearly molting of the eagle’s feathers and the resulting new plumage and color as symbolic of new life.  It’s like the eagle is hatched again fresh every year! And so the Psalmist rejoices in the Lord who “satisfies you with good as long as you live, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s” (Psalm 103:5). Spend time with the Eternal One. With every passing year, with every passing day, the Lord will satisfy you with good, and renew you as you wait for him.

Grace and Peace!

Tim Smith