Letting Go

One of my favorite TV ads from years ago is the Nestea Iced Tea Plunge commercial. In case you are one of the few people on the planet who has not seen it, it takes place in the backyard of Everybody's Neighbor on a hot day. The way I remember it is like this: a cool glass of iced tea is offered to the protagonist, who, upon taking a sip, looks likes she's just been transported to another world. She is so refreshed and euphoric that she falls backwards into a swimming pool directly behind her. She has taken 'The Plunge'.

I can't be sure if that's exactly how the ad went because when I tried to check it on the Internet, I discovered that all the videos have been removed. It is sometimes referred to now as the "Infamous Nestea Ad." I can only assume that someone tried it in his own backyard, got hurt, and sued the company.

Letting go is risky and sometimes dangerous. One piece of advice my husband gave our kids when they were looking for new jobs involved the 'law of the jungle": not letting go of one vine until you have hold of another. A trapeze artist, on the other hand, lets go at the last possible moment, hurls herself through the air, and grabs her partner's hands midair, seemingly to defy gravity, as well as all sense of reason, wisdom, and sanity. She has to trust those hands are going to be there when she lets go.

This is precisely what God asks us to do-- to let go and trust Him completely. It's hard to fathom why or how the original followers of Jesus were able to do this. Jesus walked by, called to them, one by one, and asked each one to follow Him. They dropped what they were doing, left everything behind--jobs, family, homes-- and followed Him . . . 'at once'. It was incredibly risky and possibly dangerous, like falling backwards into the unknown. It defied all reason, wisdom, and sanity. Why on earth did they 'take the plunge'?

I don't know. I can only tell you why I did. I didn't have hold of a vine, so I couldn't grab the next one. I was adrift and alone and so desperate that I began to cling to the only Vine that made sense--the God who sailed across time and space, called me by name, grabbed my hands and held onto me.

I can't say my life has been like a 30- second commercial or a 30- minute sitcom that neatly resolves all problems by the time the director yells "Cut!" But I will say that I've never regretted a single day since the day I took 'The Plunge' and set off following Him.

It's a jungle out there. But I'm clinging to my Vine and He's clinging to me. And even if I can't hang on anymore, I know one thing:

He's not letting go.

"As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 'Come, follow me,' Jesus said. . . At once they left their nets and followed him." Matthew 4:18-20