When Eagles Fear 

I am having an amazing time this week as I’m somewhere in Africa enjoying volunteering at a wildlife hospital.  For the last two days I’ve been given the responsibility of giving antibiotic injections to a beautiful Bachelor Eagle who has wounded his leg.  It’s swollen and infected; hence the antibiotics.  

Twice a day I meet with its keeper and together we get the job done.  He has to remove the eagle from its cage to restrain it for me to give the injection.  As you can imagine, the eagle is not pleased with this arrangement.  The keeper wears thick gloves and drapes a towel over the bird to remove him.  Then the majestic eagle is restrained to the table.  It only lasts a moment, but for this bird, it is not a happy ordeal.  

“We’re helping you, you lovely bird,” I spoke gently to him as if I thought he could understand me.  His piercing eyes met mine with no small amount of hostility in them.  He just wanted the entire episode to be over.  I couldn’t blame him because this bird had no understanding that what we were doing would bring health and happiness back into his world.

I thought to myself as the day wore on — don’t we do that, too?  We get wounded in our worlds.  We’re hurt and upset.  We feel alone and perhaps trapped in a situation.  We feel there’s no way out.  Like the wounded eagle, we remain in a cage of distress; but then, what happenes? Our Heavenly Father opens the cage of our worry and hurt and begins to administer His balm.  His dealings with us are always for our good, although sometimes the way forward seems not so pleasant.  Perhaps, like the eagle, we protest to our Father and beg for another way.  Another way?  Can there be anything better than what our Father plans for us?  

Upon whatever path we travel, rocky or clear, we will get wounded, but our Father is always there to administer the healing medicine needed for our weary souls.  As Jesus told us in Matthew 11:28, “Come to me everyone who is weary and carrying heavy burdens and I will give you rest.”  The eagle did not understand what we were doing.  We don’t always understand the ways of God.  How can we?  We’re merely human.  Even so, as the eagle is made stronger with our help, so are we when we bring our wounded selves to our Father.