I watched the movie Aeronauts (available on Amazon Prime Video) the other night, If you’ve not seen it and hate a spoiler stop here, otherwise please read on.
The scene that captured me was when the main character (Amelia) had to climb a maze of ropes up to the top of a hot air balloon to open a valve so the balloon could descend from a dangerous position. It was freezing, it took everything she had to pull herself up, one arm hooked through the rope then another, fingers frozen, reality fuzzy, she worked her way up and up. The look of determination on her face is pulled from a place deep within her. She slipped and nearly fell, held on and then somehow gained enough sense to tie a rope securely around her waist just in case it happened again. With tremendous effort, nearly giving up halfway, she again reached deep inside herself and pulled out even more determination to keep climbing. She finally made it to the top and then had to break the frozen vent free with her foot, standing on top of the floating balloon. In the process she passes out right there. They were flying over 30,000 feet in the air. Her partner in the balloon’s basket was passed out, unable to help her. She was utterly on her own. She awoke as she was slipping off the top of the balloon, falling. The scene went black. It begins again with her hanging by the rope around her waist, eyelashes frozen as her eyes open to the scene. She is yards away from the balloon, dangling upside down by the rope. She still doesn’t give in. She pulls herself up and grabs the rope then begins to pump her legs like on a swing until she works her way to the basket and pulls herself overboard. The danger wasn’t over yet, but something about watching that scene put me on the edge of my seat. The look of determination and the act of sheer will that kept her going felt familiar. I was climbing with her up to the top of that balloon.
I have felt the weight of the world before me and pushed my way forward, willing another step, praying for strength. The gasps coming out with every effort to grab ahold of another upward move, slowly gaining ground in an insurmountable situation. She was my comrade, the illustration of an inward battle, and an eye opener. Through this scene as everything in me felt her struggle, I was aware of my own. Aware of victory over difficulty. I had fallen in my struggle to near death more than once, but I wouldn’t give in and kept moving forward. Where does that kind of determination come from? Why do I push and push to the end, many times even after I have fallen, slipped and felt defeated.
I have been in seemingly insignificant situations where I have been determined to make it through as well as incredibly difficult places that the mere thought of them made my legs go weak. We can triumph and feel the agony and victory of that scene in our own lives. We can be proud of ourselves that we have pushed through.
We can be encouraged when we face obstacles that seem too big for us, and that we can overcome any mountain. Different seasons in life offer varying difficulties–the mountain (whether it’s laundry, breastfeeding, teenagers, tragedy or trauma) can be scaled and a flag of victory planted in the crusty soil at the top (especially if it’s dirty laundry). Looking back on the rugged path to destiny, while the wind blows in your hair can be overwhelming too, but glorious.
Some victories happen to be just making it through a situation, with no other “bells and whistles.” Others present us with a crown of wisdom we’d never gained without that struggle. I am an overcomer. I am stronger than I think I am. I am victorious.
Be proud, proud of who you are, of how far you’ve come, today and in life. Hold your head high and determine that the mountain–or the balloon–will not take you. You will take it, maybe bruised and bleeding, but you will take it. You are a beautiful warrior. Let love lead you into strength.
“Yet amid all these things we are more than conquerors and gain surpassing victory through Him who loved us.” Romans 8:37 AMPC
