Set Up For A Step Up

Last week, I shared about The Way of An Eagle. Building on that I would like to share some more things which I got a revelation on during this week. I want to challenge your world view. This will help you to see light in the darkness, and not to see darkness in the light. Your mental models will change from negative to positive paradigms. You will see opportunity in opposition. A problem changes into a challenge. A negative experience turns into a learning point. You must always know that when you are DOWN to nothing, your Creator is UP to something! Is life lording it over you? Swap roles. Change your mental models.

Feathers, Twigs And Thorns

I was tempted to call this paragraph, “The Good, The Bad and the Ugly”. Anyway, let’s talk about the eagle. When ready to lay eggs, the female and male eagle identify a place very high on a cliff where no predators can reach. The male flies to earth and picks thorns and lays them on the crevice of the cliff, then flies to earth again to collect twigs which he lays in the intended nest. He flies back to earth and picks thorns laying them on top of the twigs. He flies back to earth and picks soft grass to cover the thorns. When this first layering is complete the male eagle runs back to earth and picks more thorns, lays them on the nest; runs back to get grass and put it on top of the thorns, then plucks his feathers to complete the nest. The thorns on the outside of the nest protect it from possible intruders. The twigs give shape or structure, and the feathers give comfort to the nest.

The nest is a combination of twigs, feathers and thorns. But each ingredient is for a good purpose. Ultimately the eaglets will fly out safe and strong. Life is pretty much like that – the good and the bad running parallel. I love the Creator because He has a character called providence. This is a compound Greek word – pro means before, and video – to see. He sees before! What this means is that everything that happens in your life happens with his express knowledge and foresight. Yes the good and the bad! Let me put a caveat on this one – He is NOT the author of the bad, but when He allows it to happen, He can make it work out for your good. You can walk in your providential destiny.

Set Up

“ As an eagle that stirreth up her nest, That fluttereth over her young, He spread abroad his wings, he took them, He bare them on his pinions” Deuteronomy 32:11

Moses the lawgiver wrote this verse in the greatest book. I imagine he observed eagles when he went up Mount Sinai to get the law. What was going through his mind? During the time of training the young ones to fly, the mother eagle throws the eaglets out of the nest. Because they are scared, they jump into the nest again. Next, she throws them out and then takes off the soft layers of the nest, leaving the thorns bare. Ouch! When the scared eaglets again jump into the nest, they are pricked by thorns. Shrieking and bleeding they jump out again this time wondering why the mother and father who love them so much are torturing them. Next, mother eagle pushes them off the cliff into the air. As they shriek in fear, father eagle flies out and catches them up on his back before they fall and brings them back to the cliff. This goes on for some time until they start flapping their wings. They get excited at this newfound knowledge that they can fly. Wow!

Losing The Battle To Win A War

You can lose the battle of staying in the nest, but you can win the war of knowing the joys of being a high flyer. I like the latter. The preparation of the nest teaches us to prepare for changes. The things we do today, set us up for our success tomorrow. It just depends on how we see it. Life is dynamic so prepare today for tomorrow. The being pricked by the thorns tells us that sometimes being too comfortable where we are may result into our not experiencing life, not progressing and not learning at all. The thorns of life come to teach us that we need to grow, get out of the nest and live on. We may not know it but the seemingly comfortable and safe haven may have thorns. The caterpillar that lies inside the cocoon will never become the beautiful butterfly if someone cuts open the cocoon prematurely. It is the struggle itself that allows the butterfly to emerge as a strong. Circumstances that go beyond our capabilities of solving them place us in a position where we can completely trust our Creator. He has a great plan for your life and sometimes it involves setting you up in order for you to step up.

The Way Of An Eagle

As the year draws to a close, it is easy to start to feeling tired. The knees become feeble, and the hands drop, the shoulders sink and hope fades. But I feel strongly to encourage you today. Things might not be going as you expected. It is easy to give up. Don’t! I would like to share a few points using the way of an eagle. The eagle is the swiftest of birds, flies swiftest when hungry and soars highest. It is an amazing bird.

Lesson One – Eye On The Prey

Eagles have strong and sharp vision. They can focus on something up to five kilometers away. When an eagle spots his prey, he narrows his focus on it and sets out to get it. No matter the obstacle, the eagle will not move his focus from the prey until he grabs it. The eagle will go for the prey in a “shock and awe” swoop. The key lesson here is that identify your vision and goals. Stick to your vision no matter what obstacles stand in your way.

Lesson Two – Love The Storm

What do you do when clouds gather and storms come? Run for cover? Not with the eagle. Eagles love the storm. When clouds gather, the eagles get excited. The eagle uses the storm’s winds to lift it higher. Once it finds the wing of the storm, the eagle uses the raging storm to lift him above the clouds. This gives the eagle an opportunity to glide and rest its wings. In the meantime all the other birds hide in the leaves and branches of the trees. When life gives you clouds, make some rain and gives you a storm, ride on it! There is an opportunity in every opposition. There is a testimony in every test. The darkest clouds yield the greatest rain. Your breaking point is your breakthrough moment. When life gives you lemons, make some lemonade.

Lesson Three – High Flyer

Eagles fly alone at high altitude and not with sparrows or ravens. No other bird can go to the height of the eagle. They are in a league of their own, and know the real joys of flying. The lesson here is that break away from the crowd. Even Moses, the lawgiver had to leave the crowd at the foothills while he went to communicate with Yahweh on the mountain top. The crowd is occupied with conversations about dictators, gossip, bar talk, inflation, run off or is it runway? Be part of bigger conversations like “How can we make a dent in the universe?” If you remain amongst the crowd, you will achieve success that is common to common man. For uncommon success, go for altitude!

Lesson Four – New Opportunities

Eagles do not eat dead things or carcasses like vultures. They feed only on fresh prey. Why go for the past when there is a better future beckoning? Always be on the lookout for new opportunities. There is no use crying over that failed business or relationship. You can start all over again. Only scavengers go and look for dead prey in occupied territory. Entrepreneurs create new hunting territories.

Lesson Five – Be Choosy

The Eagle tests before it trusts. When a female eagle meets a male and they want to mate, she flies down to earth with the male pursuing her and she picks a twig. She flies back into the air with the male pursuing her. Once she has reached a height high enough for her, she lets the twig fall to the ground and watches it as it falls. The male chases after the twig. The faster it falls, the faster he chases it. He has to catch it before it falls to the ground. He then brings it back to the female eagle. The female eagle grabs the twig and flies to a higher altitude and then drops the twig for the male to chase. This goes on for hours, with the height increasing until the female eagle is assured that the male eagle has mastered the art of catching the twig which shows commitment. Then and only then, will she allow him to mate with her. Test before you trust. Partnership can make or break you. Just be sure, you are hitched to the right partner whether in business or any venture.

Lesson Six – Renew Yourself

When an eagle is oppressed with old age, his bill grows so much that he cannot open his mouth in order to take meat. He then smites his beak against a stone, and breaks off the growth that prevented him from eating; and then he goes to his ordinary food, and becomes young again. When an Eagle grows old, his feathers become weak and cannot take him as fast as he should. When he feels weak and about to die, he retires to a place far away in the rocks. While there, he plucks out every feather on his body until he is completely bare. He stays in this hiding place until he has grown new feathers and with them renews his youth, and then he can come out with new vigour. It is important to constantly renew yourself by shedding off those bad habits, and getting yourself out of the rut.