Isa 40:28-31 Eagles and Renewal

The lifespan of an eagle is about 70 years. However, in order to live this long, it must make the toughest decision at 40. At 40, its beak is too long and curvy that it reaches its chest. Its wings, full of long, thickened feathers are too heavy for easy flying. Their claws will start to age, losing their effectiveness and making it hard for them to catch prey.

The eagle is left with 2 choices - do nothing and await its death or go through a painful period of transformation and renewal.

It first trains itself to fly beyond the high mountains, build and live in its nest and cease all flying activities. Then it begins what is called the molting process. It knocks its beak against granite rocks till the beak is completely removed. When a new beak is grown, the eagle will use it to remove all its old claws and wait quietly for new ones to be fully grown. When the new claws are fully grown, the eagle will use them to remove all its feathers, one by one. Five months later, when its new feathers are fully grown, it will soar in the sky again with renewed strength and would be able to live for the next 30 years.

In life, as an individual, in a ministry, even in an organization, sometimes we have to learn to make difficult decisions so as to make room for changes. Changes bring about renewal. And the only way for us to soar again is to let go old ways, old habits, old lives. For as long as we are prepared to surrender to God our old baggage - past glory or shame, past success or failure - be willing to become zero before God, with an empty cup mentality, God will be able to help us rediscover our potential and head towards a renewed perspective in any aspect of our lives.

There is another interesting feature of this molting process. During these four to five months, the eagle cannot hunt for food. Other eagles would drop food to this molting eagle. Invariably it is not the young eagles that drop the food. These are the eagles that have gone through the molting process themselves.