One windy spring day, I observed young people having fun using the wind to fly
their kites. Multicolored creations of varying shapes and sizes filled the skies like
beautiful birds darting and dancing in the heady atmosphere above the earth. As
the strong winds gusted against the kites, a string kept them in check.
Instead of blowing away with the wind, they arose against it to achieve great
heights. They shook and pulled, but the restraining string and the cumbersome
tail kept them in tow, facing upward and against the wind. As the kites struggled
and trembled against the string, they seemed to say, "Let me go! Let me go! I
want to be free!" They soared beautifully even as they fought the imposed
restriction of the string. Finally, one of the kites succeeded in breaking loose.
"Free at last" it seemed to say. "Free to fly with the wind."
Yet freedom from restraint simply put it at the mercy of an unsympathetic
breeze. It fluttered ungracefully to the ground and landed in a tangled mass of
weeds and string against a dead bush. "Free at last" free to lie powerless in the
dirt, to be blown helplessly along the ground, and to lodge lifeless against the
first obstruction.
How much like kites we sometimes are. The Lord gives us adversity and
restrictions, rules to follow from which we can grow and gain strength. Restraint
is a necessary counterpart to the winds of opposition. Some of us tug at the
rules so hard that we never soar to reach the heights we might have obtained.
We keep part of the commandment and (pardon the pun) never rise high enough
to get our tails off the ground.
Let us each rise to the great heights our Heavenly Father has in store for us,
recognizing that some of the restraints that we may chafe under are actually the
steadying force that helps us ascend and achieve.
GODBY!
Austin
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