Let’s Go Fly A Kite!! – A Lesson From The Wind

Let’s go fly a kite!
Up to the highest heights.
Let’s go fly a kite and send it soaring.
Up to the atmosphere,
up where the air is clear,
oh let’s go, fly a kite!” –
Sung with Mr. Banks from Mary Poppins!!

I know you were humming it with me!!  Hahaha!

Spring is upon us!  – and I’m so thankful!

The sun is out, the flowers are blooming and the wind is a-blowing!

I was at the grocery store a few days ago and saw a box full of kites for only a few dollars and decided to pick one up for my littlest princess.  I had finished listening to a sermon on making memorable moments and decided that day I was going to pick her up from school and hit the park for some special moments with the wind and a new kite!!

She was SO excited!  – but I think I was more so!  I remember walking on the beach when I was little looking up at all the kites flying high above my head wishing I could fly one.  For some reason we really never flew kites when I was a kid.  So, I felt like I was reliving a small dream as we unwrapped the kite and got it up in the air!

Here she is…running and running to make the kite fly higher and higher!!  She had a HUGE smile on her sweet face the entire time.  The wind was a little inconsistent that afternoon.  It would blow and that kite would sail up, then eventually it would swirl and settle down and Harper would have to run run run to keep it going.  She eventually ran out of steam and we headed home.

Later that night at my son’s baseball game the wind was really BLOWING!  We got that kite up in the sky a bit but we were close to a big school so we were having the same issues as earlier because the building was blocking some of the wind.  It would shoot up, then the wind would eventually swirl and she would run towards the building because of how the wind was blowing, then it would die down and we’d have to start over.  But, when we took it farther out in the field, away from the building, and sent it up and let out a TON of string, it was flying so high and so powerfully the kids kept telling Harper “Don’t let go!!  Don’t let go!!!”  Then they were begging for a turn to fly it because they no longer had to run with it.  They just sat there watching it swirl and dance and flutter in the wind!  It was amazing the difference from earlier in the day and to that evening.

And somehow it all turned my heart to our sweet Savior.  As I was watching the kite, the Lord placed a powerful truth on my heart.  Actually, there are several truths now as I’ve been pondering these things the past day or so.  It’s amazing to me how we can see Jesus in every situation.  He speaks to us in a whisper.  Are we listening?!

Know what the wind is:
Jesus.  The Holy Spirit.  His word.  His wisdom.  His life.

Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground
and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
Genesis 2:7

But it is the spirit in a person, the breath of the Almighty,
that gives them understanding.
Job 33:4

We live and move and have our being because He breathed life into us.  Why do we think we can find life anywhere but in Him?  Why do we think we can find wisdom anywhere else but in His word…the breath of His mouth?

We are the kites.  All different sizes, colors and shapes.  But all designed to fly close to our Creator because of His wind.  When we realize that His breath, His word, His Holy Spirit is the only true power that can lift us up away from the cares and distractions from this world and give us the ability to be who God created us to be,  we will stop running and we will begin to feel His power in our lives as we rest in Him.

Know where the wind is:
Are we hiding behind a building sitting in the shadows hoping people don’t notice us?  Are we in a forest surrounded by tall trees allowing sin in our lives to entangle us?  Am I in my home, safe and secure where the wind can’t mess up my hair?  haha!!  Do we feel the wind on our back or is it totally calm where we sit?  If it’s calm, then we need to move.  We can’t hide from God and we can’t be comfortable or we will never find the wind, we will never experience His power and our kites will never soar.  We will miss out on the greatest joy in our life…the purpose for why were were created…”To glorify God and enjoy Him forever” (Westminister Catechism).

So, where do we find the wind?  We find it at the foot of the cross.  We find it is His Word.  Jesus died to set the sinner free.  We don’t have to sit in the shadows anymore or let the branches of our sin entangle us.  He died to wash us, redeem us and set us free from that bondage of sin.  We can’t soar when we are weighed down.  Jesus spread His arms on the cross and died so you can be robed in righteousness and become a new creation.  You are meant to do wondrous things and speak of the grace and love of God.  The greater our sin, the greater His grace! – and the more powerfully we feel His wind of love in our lives.   Show others His grace and love by allowing your sin to fall off at the foot of the cross.  Confess Jesus today as Lord and Savior and He will hand you a brand new kite to fly!

Then, seek first His face and His kingdom and His breath will be in you.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching,
rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
11 Timothy 3:16-17

His word is filled with everything we need to do the works God created us for.  It is His breath.  It speaks of His love, His saving grace, His wisdom and righteousness, His plans and desires.  We will feel the power of God as we fill our lives with His breath…His word…His Holy Spirit.  Without it, our kites will come crashing down, or we’ll be running around with our heads cut off, tripping and falling and wondering why we are SO tired!  His word is our only source of true power.

Let out the string and soar:
The wind was a lot more powerful the higher up we got the kite.  The further away it got from obstructions and “the world”, the more consistently it flew without us having to do anything.  The wind did all the work.  The kite just rested in the wind’s power and did what it was designed to do…fly.

But we have to be intentional in letting the string out.  God doesn’t make us let it out.  He’s a perfect gentleman.  What is holding you to this world?  What is preventing you from soaring higher and being a vessel of the Lord’s power and love?  Is it fear in letting go and letting the string out?  Are there things you need to shut down, turn off, put away that are keeping you too distracted and focused on “the world”?

In a sermon I heard recently, the pastor was talking about gazing at God and glancing at the world.  When we are able to get farther away from the world and it’s “obstacles” and “snares” and “distractions” and the more we look up and gaze at God and see His glory, His love, His faithfulness, His power, the less we have to work and the more we feel HIS power in our lives.  Things become easier.  We don’t get exhausted.  We aren’t running around trying to manufacturer our own wind.  HE lifts us up.

Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly.
Yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.
Isaiah 40:30-31

Harper didn’t get tired anymore at the baseball field.  She was able to stand there in perfect peace and feel the power of the wind in her hands.  The process of flying the kite became SO easy and SO much more enjoyable.

Let the wind show it’s power:
By standing still, we don’t distract from the beauty and power of the kite flying high in the wind.  People around us look at the kite and see the power of the wind.  They aren’t distracted by the person holding the kite.  When Harper was running back and forth, around and around, people were watching her and smiling hoping she wasn’t going to trip and fall on something!  – at least that’s why I was watching  her!!  I was watching her effort, not noticing the power of the wind and the kites ability to fly.  She couldn’t run fast enough and long enough to get it up in the sky if the wind wasn’t blowing.  When we find the wind, let out our string and wait for the Lord, people notice His power in our lives.  They see our peace.  They see our joy as we gaze heavenward.  They know that it can only be the power of God doing amazing things through us because we are not running around, yet our “kite” is soaring!!  He gets the glory the higher and higher our kites fly.

It’s crazy what we can learn on a windy day!  Haha!  I love it!!  I love that the Lord wants to speak to us.  I love that the Lord has SUCH good plans for our lives.  Plans to bless us and give us a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11).

Friends, my prayer for you is that today you would know what the wind is, know where to find it, let out that string as far as you can and separate yourself from the world and all it’s distractions, then let your kite soar!!!  People will see Jesus through you and you will have peace and joy and power you never would have known without Him.

Now let’s go fly a kite!!!

xo!