Knowing God - Deuteronomy 32:11-12

(from Pastor)

Like an eagle that rouses her chicks

and hovers over her young,

so he spread his wings to take them in

and carried them aloft on his pinions. 

The Lord alone guided them;

they lived without any foreign gods.

Deuteronomy 32:11-12

 

The most important part of these verses is that God's people -- for once -- lived without any foreign gods and worldly priorities. The most important news is that they allowed the Lord -- and the Lord alone -- to guide them.

 

That's the most important part ... but not the most fun! The most fun part is the image of the eagle.

 

I'm told that the way a mother eagle teaches her young to fly is to take them to terrifying heights and then drop them. The eaglet falls and falls. And the mother just hovers aloft and aloof. 

 

This free-fall must be absolutely harrowing for the young creature that's never stretched its wings. If the youngster is able, he'll set his wings and rise in triumph. If the youngster is not able, the mother will swoop in at the last moment and grasp the infant in her terrible -- and in this case, comforting -- talons.

 

Deuteronomy tells us that God is like a mother eagle. He "rouses." He "hovers" tenderly. He spreads is wings over us when trials come. He sometimes lets us fall from terrifying heights, knowing a) that falling will teach us to fly or b) he'll catch us before life and gravity crush us.

 

In Christ's Love,

a guy who's never sky-dived

(but may need to if I'm ever going to fly spiritually)   

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That baby implicitly, completely trusts his Mama. He has no choice. We really have no choice but to trust God. We know he is there - nearby.  But where the trust comes in is in the ability to fly or knowing you'll be caught.  Even if you try to fly but are not successful, God is there. According to Pastor, he'll catch us before it is too late.  We just need to have the trust of the baby bird.