I’ve always loved kites, but haven’t made time to fly any in years.  So when I saw a grandfather trying to help his granddaughter to fly a kite, it caught my interest, so I watched for a bit.  It sure looked like it was the 13 yr old-ish granddaughter’s first time flying a kite—she struggled for just a bit, then just gave up!  But not so the grandfather!
 
Other than just not having the patience, it looked like the granddaughter was just not getting how it worked.  She started well, running with it toward the wind to help it launch, but she never let out string, and then when she ran out of space, she turned around and ran with the kite WITH the wind.  The kite, of course, collapsed with no wind in its wings, and after several tries like this, the girl just gave up.
 
Grandpa knew what he was doing, though, got the kite up, let out string, and let the wind in the wings do all the work—but by then, the girl was gone.
In New Testament Greek, “wind” and “spirit” are the same word- pneuma.  So I’ve always loved seeing spiritual (pneuma) lessons coming from the wind (pneuma).  The first lesson here, was the wonderful truth that the wind (pneuma) only has the power, when you work WITH it, allowing it to do the work—otherwise, we quickly get frustrated and exhausted with something that could be so simple—tapping into the power of the pneuma/wind/Spirit.
 
The second lesson was a bit more subtle.  I was far enough I couldn’t hear what might have been said between the girl and the grandfather, but I’m betting that he tried in a gentle way, to help the girl see how simple it is to harness the power of pneuma—but it sure looks like she just wouldn’t listen.  She was closed to hearing wisdom from one who knew.  Was she one who figured she was smart enough, and didn’t need any help?  I don’t know, but I DO know, that in this sad case, she missed out on tapping into the power of the pneuma.
 
How often do we miss out on the power of the pneuma/ Holy Spirit in our lives, because we just don’t want to listen, or don’t want to work WITH the pneuma?  I pray that we all have the tenacity and the wisdom of that grandfather, to work WITH the Holy Spirit, so that we, too, can truly know the power of the pneuma in our lives!
Pastor Jim