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Recently I began watching a live-stream YouTube channel which covers the daily life of two bald eagles living in California and their still young chick. It’s truly astounding to watch the female sit on her nest 145 feet up in a Jeffrey Pine tree, where day and night through any type of weather, she keeps her baby safe and warm. Did you know that bald eagles have roughly 7,000 down feathers to protect them from the wet and cold? Nope, I didn’t know that either!
Periodically, the male arrives back at the nest with food and very obvious moral support for his ‘wife and child’. Bald eagles typically mate for life unless one of the pair dies or fails to return—so it’s easy to see how much these amazing birds work together to survive and prosper in an increasingly tumultuous world. How blessed this chick is with parents to guard, protect and provide for it’s every need.
Okay. Analogy time.
Do you ever feel like a tiny helpless bird in a very large nest? It’s no secret that the world can be a scary place—and as we go through each day, it’s easy to be overcome with anxious thoughts and worries about life, our well-being and the future. But did you know that just like the baby eagle in the nest, we too have a loving parent to care for us, to provide for our every need, to protect us and love us unconditionally?
Here’s the thing—whenever I feel alone or frightened or anxious about the world and all the crazy things going on in it, I’m reminded that I’ve got a Heavenly Father who nurtures me along until I’m ready to step back out into each new day with the assurance that I’m a child of the King. “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?” (Matthew 6:25 NIV)
Here’s another really cool part in Matthew 6:26. ”Look at the birds of the air: They do not sow or reap or gather into barns—and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” (NIV)
As I continue to watch the baby eagle spread its wings and open its beak for one of mom’s handouts, I can’t help taking comfort in the fact that my Saviour Jesus Christ is not only my redeemer—but He also is my protector—my provider and my source of strength and hope for each breath I take. If you’re feeling scared, lonely, frightened, hungry, or just plain vulnerable like a small bird in an over-sized nest; you need only to gaze upon the wonder of the cross and the miraculous death and resurrection of Jesus.
Here's a parting nugget of truth. Did you know that we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus? And just like the baby eagle who receives unconditional love from its parents, we cannot do anything to earn the love and redemption of God our heavenly Father. All we have to do is ask and invite the Lord into our lives and into our hearts. He does the rest!
“Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food?” (Job 38:41 NIV)
Paul Smyth
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