"I Hope You Dance"

'Dancing with the Stars' has recently become a big hit and many people have discovered the beauty and grace that can be found in ballroom dancing. I heard a quote not long ago that said ""The reason we love God is He has "acted upon" us and we have responded to Him. It is "The Dance" where He moves and we respond" (John Juneman; Saturation Study part 1 session 7)

We love God because he has 'acted upon' us. We hear of God's love for us, realizing that He loved us so much that He would stop at nothing, even the death of His only son on a cross, to win our heart. When the realization of that love and His great sacrifice takes hold of our mind and our heart, it is then that He approaches, curtsies and holds out his hand; the invitation to the dance.

It is up to Him to lead, He is a strong and confident leader, His arm is strong and mighty, yet His hand guides us gently. His fingers apply gentle pressure to our shoulder blade to show us which way to turn and his steps are always perfect, never too fast and never too slow. It is an exhilarating dance, making our heart beat faster and putting color in our cheeks, yet it is never too much, too fast, or too dizzying for us to keep up.

When we respond to his leading the dance becomes graceful and beautiful and the bystanders watch with rapt attention, mesmerized by the beauty of the movements, some imagine themselves in your place, dancing in perfect step with the perfect partner, and some will long to be the next one asked to dance.

In ballroom dancing these are the instructions given to the man on how to lead his partner:

“Using your right hand as the guiding force of the lead:

• a gentle pull will move her toward you
• a cup in and gentle push will move her backward
• a gentle scoop and pull with the fingers will pull her to your right
• a gentle push with the heel of the hand will push her to your left”

So it is with God as he guides us through life. A gentle pull, a gentle push, a gentle scoop and pull with the fingers, a gentle push with the heel of His hand, as He gently guides us forward and back, to the left and to the right.

The instruction for the woman on following are as follows:

“Women, your responsibility in dancing is to follow your partner and adapt to any rhythm or style he dances. To do this, light resistance must be maintained. If you are too relaxed, leading becomes very difficult. Arm and shoulder contact with the man’s upper right arm and shoulder should be maintained to provide more resistance and stability.”

It is up to us to respond to God’s leading, to follow where he leads us, to adapt our lives to His rhythm and style. We must not get too relaxed, thinking He will do all the work and we need to do nothing. We must maintain firm contact with His right arm to provide stability.

God’s right hand and arm have always been symbolic of His power. The power to dance this dance comes from Him, from His right hand and arm. He leads us gently into His will and it is up to us to respond to him. The more we dance with Him the more we anticipate his moves, we become more sensitive to the gentle pull of His fingers and the cupping of His palm. The more we respond the more responsive we become. The more we dance with him the more we become one unit, in sync, in rhythm, gracefully and beautifully moving across the ballroom of life.

When others see us gliding across the floor of life it will ignite in many of them the desire to dance too, and this will lead them to seek out our partner for themselves. Normally this would be a problem, but not with God, He has many dance partners and room in his heart for many more. 

A popular country songs talks of the singers desire that her daughter not miss out on the good things in life by singing “When you get the chance to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance.” Similarly I say to you, “When you get the chance to reject Him or accept His invitation to the dance…… I hope you dance.”