The Dance

When the Old Testament talks about dance, it is usually in the context of joyful celebration and/or worship. In 1 Samuel 18 David returns from a great victory, "the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with tambourines and lutes."

Years later as king, David brings the Ark of the Covenant to the City of David. As the Ark enters the city in 2 Samuel 6, "David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the LORD with all his might, while he and the entire house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouts and the sound of trumpets."

In one of his well-known prophesies of the coming Messiah, Jeremiah describes it as a time when,

Then maidens will dance and be glad,
young men and old as well.
I will turn their mourning into gladness;
I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.
I will satisfy the priests with abundance,
and my people will be filled with my bounty,”
declares the LORD.

Dancing seems to have often been a spontaneous outpouring of joy in response to the blessings of God. Of course, the prophets of Baal also danced in their competition with Elijah on Mount Carmel, and you may remember that John the Baptist lost his head because of one young woman's lustful dance before King Herod.

A few posts back I wrote about VJ and I taking a ballroom dance class that was being held in our fellowship hall; I got some interesting reactions. :-) Well, we're still taking the class, and one of our teachers shared the following with us about dance as a metaphor for our walk with God.

Dancing With God

When I meditated on the word GUIDANCE, I kept seeing "dance" at the end of the word. I remember reading that doing God's will is a lot like dancing. When two people try to lead, nothing feels right. The movement doesn't flow with the music, and everything is quite uncomfortable and jerky. When one person realizes that, and lets the
other lead, both bodies begin to flow with the music. One gives gentle
cues, perhaps with a nudge to the back or by pressing lightly in one
direction or another. It's as if two become one body, moving
beautifully. The dance takes surrender, willingness, and attentiveness from one person and gentle guidance and skill from the other.

My eyes drew back to the word GUIDANCE. When I saw "G": I thought of God, followed by "u" and "i". "God, "u" and "i" dance." God, you, and I dance. As I lowered my head, I became willing to trust that I
would get guidance about my life. Once again, I became willing to let
God lead. My prayer for you today is that God's blessings and mercies
are upon you on this day and everyday. May you abide in God, as
God abides in you. Dance together with God, trusting God to lead and to guide you through each season of your life.

Now, I realize that learning a few ballroom dance steps and trusting God in the dance of life are not entirely the same, but I was touched and impressed by what Virginia wrote back to our instructor. I'll just close with her words.

Even though I try to keep my eyes open to God’s working in our lives on a day to day basis, I never expected to experience such a powerful application of how God leads us by participating in a dance class!!!

Thank you, Mindy and Mike, for sharing your gift and passion for the beauty of the dance with us. May we each be that connected and responsive partner to God’s gentle guiding as He displays His grace and love to the world through us.