The Kite Eating Tree

A few blocks away from my house there is a tree with a kite stuck in it. I see it every day on my way to and from work, and it always reminds me of Charlie Brown. If you were a fan of the Peanuts comic strip, you will recall that whenever Charlie Brown set out to fly his kite, it always ended up in the “Kite Eating Tree”. It didn’t matter how determined he was, how prepared he was, or how positive he was that it wouldn’t happen again, that kite ended up in that tree. At one point, Charlie Brown was so frustrated, he didn’t even bother trying to fly the kite – he just threw it into the tree.



I think everyone has to deal with their own Kite Eating Trees. You know what I mean. There are things we try to do that are good, but they somehow seem to always end in failure. For many of us, eating healthier and getting more exercise are frequent New Year’s resolutions, but how many us keep those promises past February? Along the way, temptation lures us back to our old habits, and like Charlie Brown, we throw our resolution into the tree and give up.

But it’s not just New Year’s resolutions that get attacked. Sometimes, it’s trying something new, something we understand to be in response to God’s leading. It could be something we do as a group or as a church. Along the way, we find ourselves at odds with other people, or circumstances, or finances. Often these roadblocks don’t go away even if we originally overcome them. Like the Kite Eating Tree, these roadblocks can keep popping up and trying to stop our progress. For example, a while ago, our church decided to take on a Pastor intern, and allow him to work alongside our Lead Pastor to be mentored for several years. This decision required a financial commitment that was relatively large given the size of our church. But we felt this was a good thing to do, and trusted that this was where God was leading us as a church. The initial financial challenge went away as we re-organized our staff - but it came back. Then we addressed it by using up our savings - but it came back. Now we seem to staring that financial challenge in the face yet again. It almost seems like the financial burden is our Kite Eating Tree, set on making sure this decision ends in failure. I must confess there are days when I want to give up, throw that decision into the tree, and say we just can’t do this anymore. But I don’t give up. I keep fighting, I keep encouraging everyone to be faithful to their promises to support the budget, and I keep praying. I will not let this roadblock get the better of me.

During a recent worship service, Ev recalled some of the Kite Eating Trees that were in her family’s lives as they were adopting two children. She made an important observation – how do we know when these roadblocks are put there by the evil one, and when these roadblocks are God’s way of nudging us in a different direction? To complicate things, sometimes when we seek the counsel of our friends in these circumstances, we can get conflicting advice. Think of Job, and what his wife told him to do in the midst of his suffering – curse God and die – sounds like throwing in the towel to me.

Often, we don’t know for sure until we can look back in hindsight and see how God was leading us and how He provided what we needed to overcome those obstacles. Sometimes, we see how God used our earthly failure to lead us to a better place. Sometimes, He used those roadblocks to reveal things about ourselves, to humble us, to point us back to Him. Sometimes, those roadblocks were simply trials and temptations designed to wear us down and lead us astray. So how do we tell the difference when we are in the midst of them? Let me know if you figure this one out because I’m still working on it.

The New Testament tells us to consider it pure joy when we face the Kite Eating Trees in our lives (James 1:2-4). Overcoming those trials and temptations will develop perseverance. Perseverance will help us stand up to those Kite Eating Trees, and continue to follow God’s leading not matter how much resistance we face.

So what are the Kite Eating Trees in your life? What’s stopping you from doing the right thing? Are you ready to throw in the towel? Or are you going to persevere?

Stay faithful my friends.

Jac