Have you ever had to take that leap?
My cousin called me yesterday to discuss a business venture that, in his words, would take a great leap of faith. He called me because he knew I’d taken a leap or two myself. I guess to some degree he hoped I would give him the encouragement he needed to jump into the unknown for himself.
I immediately thought of the movie Outrageous Fortune starring Shelley Long from the late 1980’s. Ok, so I’m dating myself, but near the end of the movie, Shelley’s character is being pursued by a bad guy in the middle of the Mexican desert. The cliffhanger moment comes when the camera zooms out to reveal the setting: The Four Fingers on the Mesa Azul Cliffs (a fictitious name and apparently a fictitious place made up of four gigantic pillars in the middle of the desert). As Shelley ascends the first pillar in an attempt to get away from said bad guy, she discovers that she must jump from one pillar plateau to another in hopes that her pursuer retreats.
Her bravery and confidence in each jump is urged on by her desperation, but the villain remains in pursuit. As he gains on her, she realizes that the fourth jump is a longer span than the previous three. In preparation, she begins to run in leaps for the final, significant expanse between pillars. Longs’ character exemplifies the formidable grace and finesse of every learned ballerina. Her skillful leaps build momentum for the last, crucial one. With a little help from her co-star Bette Midler, who distracts and targets the scoundrel, causing him to fall, Long is able to take a running start to her grand jeté in hopes that she sticks her landing. With toes pointed, her forward inertia thrusts her across the span to land gracefully on the next pillar. Directly tailing her, the wretch attempts his jump only to find himself short of the expanse. As he plunges to his death, and with impeccable timing, Shelly hollers over the cliff, “Nine years of ballet #@%*^!” (an expletive I will leave to the imagination).
What – other than nine years of ballet – can train us for a leap like that!? What have the things of our past prepared us for? Then it hit me… What primed me for the life-changing-no-turning-back leap that I took? Loss. Loss prepared me for my leap.
Loss is a part of life none of us can escape. Some losses are more devastating than others. Somehow – though we can’t imagine how – time gets us over the sting of loss and we are forced to move on. Forced like Shelly’s character. She was not presented with another option, but the preparation for her escape came from something she trained for for nine years.
I experienced more loss between the years of 2009 and 2018 than I did in my previous 56 years of life. But that nine years prepared me, like the formal ballet training of Shelley’s character. Loss taught me to hold on to scripture and God’s promises and let go of circumstances and that which I could not control. Loss taught me to hold on to Romans 8:37, which says I’m more than a conqueror through Him who loves me. With the help of my co-stars – family and friends – I’d take a leap from the only home I’d ever known, New York, across the country to live in beautiful, Las Vegas, Nevada. Big leap! With it came a new life, new opportunities, and a new focus – what I had left.
God doesn’t cause the unfortunate, devastating losses or circumstances we experience, but He will use them for our good, for those of us who love Him and are called according to His purpose.
I’ve often heard that God doesn’t call the equipped, He equips the called. When you allow God to do the work only He can do, He will equip you to take that leap of faith only He (and 9 years of ballet) can bridge.