Do You Dance?

I have always admired those people who can make their bodies do amazing things when they dance.  Break dancers blow my mind by how they do what they do.  I can barely pull out an old fashioned "robot" dance.  People who can gracefully execute the Salsa, or the Waltz or any of those ballroom dances also blow my mind.  Ballet dancers and lyrical dancers are what really get to me though.  The way they move with the music to tell a story is just breathtaking.  It is such an emotional form of dancing in my opinion.

Another form of dancing I love is worship.  Now, I don't mean you have to get out in the aisle and dance to worship.  I mean the kind of dancing that takes place between you and Jesus as you pour your love and your thankfulness out to Him for all that He has done.  And one thing I have learned in my walk with Christ, it's much easier to dance with Jesus when times are good and happy than it is when times are tough.  But that's what makes our dance with Him so special and life changing.....when we can dance with Him in the midst of total darkness in our lives.

You see, I believe God is seeking out those who will dance before Him in their hearts, in the midst of the darkest hours of their lives.  When things are the toughest, when we have no "praise" left in us to give, when we are at our weakest...that's when He wants to dance with us.  Something happens when we can let go of all our troubles and heartaches and pains and totally surrender ourselves to just abandon what's going on around us and worship Him.  A heart that truly surrenders itself to Him in the darkest hours is a heart that will be transformed by His miraculous grace and love.  Isaiah 54:1 says, "SING, O barren one, you who did not bear; break forth into singing and cry aloud, you who did not travail with child!"  Here's what I think that says for us....a barren woman is in her darkest hour.  Trust me, I know!  I was there.  To be able to sing in the midst of it is not an easy thing to do.  But when we can push past our pain and begin to sing in the midst of it, THAT is when He comes and meets us and begins to do that work that only He can do.  THAT is when He begins to transform our pain into joy and turns our mourning into dancing.  Psalms 30:11 says, "You have turned my mourning into dancing." When we take that first step to praise in the midst of adversity, I promise you He will meet you there and before you know it you will be dancing with joy in your heart, even in the midst of your darkest hour.

I have to remind myself of this truth constantly.  I want my heart to stay in a position to dance regardless of what's happening around me. I want to completely abandon myself to Him in every way.  I want to continue to sing even when my flesh and circumstances tells me not to.  How do I do that?  I keep myself in His Word everyday.  I daily read His love letters to me through His Word, and I find my strength within His Word.  I pour out my heart to Him in prayer and in return allow Him to pour Himself back into me.  That's how I keep singing.  That's how I keep dancing.

So, when was the last time you danced?  I encourage you to pick yourself up, throw off everything that holds you back and abandon yourself to all that He has for you today.  Grab hold of His hand, and just dance.....

Keep dancing...
~Stacy