Five Steps to Breakthrough with Mary Poppins

Everyone's favorite magical nanny is back in Disney's wonderful new film, Mary Poppins Returns, and just like before she takes children on fantastic adventures but her real purpose is to uncover the lessons needed to save the adults.
     Like many of us, the characters in the film are in need of both inner and outer breakthrough—a dramatic change of condition in both the circumstances of life and in the attitude of the heart. The Banks children have grown up and forgotten that their experiences with Mary Poppins were real, and Michael in particular is in desperate need of a breakthrough. He has recently been widowed, and in his grief he has become lost in a state of depression that has paralyzed him in darkness. He faces the immediate threat of losing their iconic Cherry Tree Lane home to a bank repossession because he has fallen into debt; however, the deeper threat is that he is emotionally disconnected from his three children, who are learning to fend for themselves at the cost of their own childhood innocence.
     The path Mary Poppins leads Michael on—from darkness to light, depression to joy, lostness to remembering—can be a beautiful picture of the path that Christ offers us toward breakthrough. If you find yourself in need of breakthrough today, read on.

1. Look Up

     The film opens with Jack the Leary (i.e. a lamplighter) singing "Lovely London Sky" [click links to listen in Spotify] at dawn. The song sets the stage for the story by addressing one who "feels blue" and is "in a slump" but

Sooner than you think you’ll hear
Some bright new song
So hold on tight to those you love
And maybe soon from up above
You’ll be blessed
so keep on looking high
While you're underneath the lovely London sky

     In other words, expect breakthrough. Breakthrough is the miraculous manifestation of heaven on earth. However, breakthrough begins long before the miracle, when we begin to seek a solution that comes from heaven, which requires that we lift our eyes away from earth.
     Seasons of sadness are normal, and it would be a shallow faith that insisted that believers must be perpetually happy. It's perfectly natural, for instance, that Michael has walked through deep grief over the loss of his wife. Accepting pain, loss, and sadness as part of life in a fallen world is evidence of maturity.
     However, the Enemy of our souls also strategizes against us, seeking to transform these seasons of sadness into pits of despair, stealing our hope and trapping us in the darkness of depression. To do this, the Enemy seeks to focus our attention only on earthly things, distorting our perspective so that we will rely on our natural strengths alone rather than trust in a miracle-working God.
     Thus, God's grace constantly woos us to lift up our eyes, reminding us that our ultimate source of hope and healing must come from heaven:

Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory. (Colossians 3:1-4 NLT)

     The first step out of the darkness is to shift your gaze. Breakthrough begins when you look up.

2. Imagine the Impossible

     When Mary Poppins returns to the Banks family, her first prescription for the three little ones (John, Annabel and Georgie) is a bath, which turns into a magical underwater adventure. The skeptical children are challenged to put aside logic and intellect to re-engage their imagination. Mary sings "Can You Imagine That," a song that ironically mocks those who are "foolish" enough to engage in play and nonsensical fancy:

Some people like to laugh at life
And giggle through the day
They think the world's a brand new shiny toy
And if while dreaming in the clouds
They fall and go kersplatt
Although they're down and bent in half
They brush right off and start to laugh
Can you imagine that?

     Let me pause here to note that the modern age rejected faith and the supernatural in favor of a supposedly rational, scientific one-dimensional materialistic naturalism. In the disillusionment and poverty of spirit that resulted, the secular response has often been a form of Romanticism that exalts emotion, irrationality, and artistic imagination as a path back to the meaning of life. I'm not endorsing this approach: by itself, human emotion is no better than human reason if cut off from the higher dimension of faith in God. If I have any criticism of the Mary Poppins stories, it would be this.
     Nevertheless, I believe that Mary Poppins appeal to imagination is valuable if we understand it in terms of faith. Faith is visualizing what God intends to do and acting in accordance with it. Faith is not opposed to reason, but it does transcend reason, because reason can only operate within the confines of the natural. Logic works on the visible, but faith opens up the invisible: "By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible." (Heb. 11:3)
     By re-engaging our imagination, we re-calibrate our evaluation of what is possible. If breakthrough is the manifestation of heaven on earth, then a necessary part of the process is retraining our minds to see from heaven's perspective. Logic tells us that it is nonsense to imagine the impossible, but in so doing forgets that it is actually imagination that determines what is possible and what is impossible. "Nothing will be impossible with God." (Luke 1:37)
     Firing up a faith-driven imagination is so important because depression tends to paralyze us with prayerlessness. Simply put, when we don't see a way out of our present circumstances, we don't even ask. The great lie of the darkness is that we must simply accept it. Against this Jesus prods us with the promise: "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened." (Matt. 7:7-8)
     As Mary Poppin's song points out, finding the faith to ask, seek and knock requires a willingness to appear foolish:

God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God. (1 Cor. 1:27-29 NLT)

     Having hitched our hopes to the power source of heaven, to get to our breakthrough we must expand our faith by being just foolish enough to imagine the impossible.

3. Uncover the Lies

     Mary Poppins next step is to uncover the villain of the story, [spoiler alert] an unscrupulous banker who pretends to want to help Michael pay off his loan when in fact he is counting on repossessing the house to drive his own greed. Mary takes the children to a fantastic animated music hall where she and Jack sing "A Cover Is Not the Book:"

A cover is not the book
So open it up and take a look
'Cause under the cover one discovers
That the king may be a crook
Chapter titles are like signs
And if you read between the lines
You'll find your first impression was mistook
For a cover is nice
But a cover is not the book

     The lesson of the song is that we sometimes put our trust in those who do not deserve it, because we don't discern beyond the outward appearance. When we struggle with depression, fear, anxiety, or some other need for breakthrough, it's all too easy to turn to substitute gods that promise relief: self-destructive habits and addictions, unhealthy relationships, the empty promises of money or workaholism. They promise relief, but they are really wolves in sheep's clothing.
     Underneath these idols is usually a lie that we have internalized which subverts our faith. It could be a belief we have embraced that someone or something is more powerful than God. More often, though, I think that the lie we are most tempted to believe is that God does not desire what is best for us. That God is not for us, either because his heart is not truly good, or because we somehow don't deserve his grace.
     Of course, we don't deserve it; that's why it's called grace. God so loved us that he gave himself for us, not when we had done everything right, but when we were still sinners, when we were still enemies. The fact of the cross is the bedrock reality that fuels faith for every breakthrough. "Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?" (Rom. 8:32)
     I'm convinced that the primary reason God delays releasing breakthrough is to work through the process of delivering us from the Lie. Heaven can't come to earth until we get the Hell out, literally. Waiting for the promise tests our trust in the promise-maker. It uncovers the beliefs we have internalized about ourselves and about the heart of the Father. Whatever healing or deliverance we may need pales in comparison to our need to get right on our relationship with him.
     Jesus modeled this for us when he was tempted by the devil. "If you really are the Son of God," said the Accuser, "turn this stone into bread." The temptation wasn't really about bread, it was about getting Jesus to question whether he was the Son—which is another way of saying, getting Jesus to doubt the heart of the Father. To rush the miracle would have been to make relationship dependent on breakthrough rather than breakthrough an expression of relationship. Jesus answers the way we must learn to answer: "It is written, man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." (Matt. 4:3-4)
     Getting to breakthrough requires more than reading the Word of God or even quoting the Word of God. It is learning to live on the Word of God—to find in it the heart of the Father, which requires digging up the deeply rooted lies that have gone down into our hearts. "I am a son or daughter of God, and He is a good Father. He loves me, he is for me, not against me, and he will do what is best for me in every season of life with perfect timing."
     As we learn to distrust the wolves we will learn to trust the shepherd. When we uncover the lies we have believed, we make room for the Word of God that brings the breakthrough.

4. Turn Downside Up

     As the Banks children strive to find a way to help their father pay his debt, they accidentally break a prized china bowl that had belonged to their mother. The chipped dish serves as a metaphor for the brokenness of their family since her death. Mary Poppins offers to take it to Topsy, one of her magical cousins, who is able to fix anything.
     When they first arrive Topsy is unable to help because her entire shop has "turned turtle"—upside down, like a turtle on its shell—which apparently happens to her every second Wednesday.
     However, during the course of Mary's visit Topsy ends up standing on her head—which of course makes her upside down world seem right side up again. With Mary's help everyone embraces this new perspective, singing in "Turning Turtle:"

You see, when the world turns upside down,
the best thing is turn right along with it....
When you change the view from where you stood
The things you view will change for good.

     Like Topsy, the problems we face when we are in need of breakthrough disrupt our sense of "normal" and can leave us feeling paralyzed to take any action to fix the broken things in our lives. Mary's message of a change in perspective reminds us that God is at work even before our miracle, working for our good even in the midst of our problems, but we may have to change our perspective to see it:

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. (James 1:3-4) 

      Rejoicing in our troubles does not mean that we rejoice about our troubles. Even Jesus wept when his friend Lazarus died. Rather, rejoicing is the considered result of trusting the Father's heart (step 3) to bring breakthrough in his perfect timing, so that we can be free to view our troubles from a new perspective by asking the question: what can God accomplish in and through me during this trial that could not have happened otherwise?
     The man who lost his job may discover he has an opportunity to spend more time with his family. A woman who is betrayed by a friend may become more sensitive to how she has treated others herself. A child who struggles with an illness may develop a greater prayer life and a greater awareness of the hurts of others.
     It's important to understand that these life lessons do not compensate for our pain. God does not bring evil into the world just to teach us character. Rather, the fact that God can work even in spite of the evil is another way that we experience the kindness of the Father toward us. When Joseph's brothers betrayed him, Joseph did not excuse their wrong behavior as "God's will," but he did perceive "You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good, for the saving of many lives as it is this day." (Gen. 50:20)
     Moreover, the new opportunities that we discover during a season of waiting often become the doors through which we enter into new joy for ourselves and new usefulness to the Kingdom of God after our breakthrough:

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. (2 Cor. 1:3-5)  

     When it seems like life has turned you upside down, look for new opportunities for growth and ministry to present themselves in the midst of your troubles. Change your perspective to downside up and your season of waiting before your breakthrough can become your preparation for greater impact after your breakthrough.

5. Follow the Light

     On their way home the Banks children become lost in the fog of a London night, literally and metaphorically trying to find their way home in the dark. Jack calls out his fellow Learies to lead the way by lighting one lamp at a time while they dance and sing "Trip a Little Light Fantastic:"

Let's say you're lost in a park, sure
You can give in to the dark or
You can trip a little light fantastic with me
When you're alone in your room
Your choice's just embrace the gloom
Or you can trip a little light fantastic with me

     The message here is that, while waiting for breakthrough, we often feel like we are completely surrounded by the darkness; depression, hurt and anxiety become a fog in which we are afraid to move. Yet if we pay attention, we may discover that we do have some light—not enough to get all the way home, but enough to take the next step. If we follow that light, then the next lamp is lit, and the next, and the next.
     Scripture describes the Christian life not as a set of religious rules or philosophical principles but rather as a "walk" led step by step by a living relationship with the Holy Spirit. "The mature children of God are those who are moved by the impulses of the Holy Spirit." (Rom. 8:14 TPT) These inner promptings of the Spirit lead us away from the darkness:

For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true. Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. (Eph. 5:9-10) 

But the key to staying out of the darkness is to use the light available:

So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.  (Eph. 5:15-17)

     Part of following the light is sharing whatever light you have with others. When we are needing a miracle, it's easy to believe we have nothing to give to those around us. However, it's often those who are barely clinging to the light themselves whom God uses to bring light to others. As we share our small light with others, they share their small light with us, and together the light becomes bright. As the Learies sing with Mary Poppins,

So when life is getting scary, be your own illuminary
Who can shine the light for all the world to see
As you trip a little light fantastic with me

     As the Banks children share their light with their father, he comes to the recognition that he has all he needs in the love of his family, regardless of whether they lose the house. This inner breakthrough is what leads the way to their outer breakthrough of provision to save their house. But the turning point is their commitment to follow the light they already have rather than give in to the darkness.

Nowhere to Go But Up

     Ultimately, Mary Poppins represents the work of the Holy Spirit. She comes to dwell in the house, prompting and guiding us into receiving the breakthrough from heaven we need (although whereas Mary comes temporarily, the Spirit never leaves us). Just as Mary leads the Banks family into inner healing of their grief and outer release of their bondage to debt, the Spirit works in each of us to impart truth that sets us free inside while awakening the faith and love that connect heaven and earth until our breakthrough comes.
     The film ends with the whole community around Cherry Tree Lane floating up into the sky on magical balloons singing "Nowhere to Go But Up:"

Life's a balloon
That tumbles or rises
Depending on what is inside
Fill it with hope
And playful surprises
And oh, deary ducks
Then you're in for a ride

Let the past take a bow
The forever is now
And there's nowhere to go but up, up
There's nowhere to go but up

This final image of defying gravity shows us the essence of breakthrough: it's not that they float away from the earth into heaven as an escape from their problems. It's that heaven has so invaded them that they are no longer constrained by the limitations of earth. As Jesus taught us to pray,

Our Father, dwelling in the heavenly realms,
    may the glory of your name
    be the center on which our lives turn.
Manifest your kingdom realm,
    and cause your every purpose to be fulfilled on earth,
    just as it is fulfilled in heaven. (Matt. 6:9-10 TPT)

When heaven breaks through and comes down, there's nowhere to go but up.