Be Engaged in the Divine Dance (Psalm 43 Devotional)
O send out Thy light and Thy truth, let them lead me. Let them bring me to Thy holy hill and to Thy dwelling places. Then I will go to the altar of God. To God my exceeding joy. – Psalm 43:3-4
When I was a senior in college, I took a class called Social Dance. I had finished all of my challenging courses and wanted a class that was fun with as little work as possible. It was a mistake. Not only was my teacher serious about the class, but my dance partner was also very serious. She was a diminutive Chinese woman who was committed to learning every step perfectly.
Unfortunately, her dance partner was a clumsy Irishman with two left feet looking to have fun in a blow-off class. I was supposed to be the lead, but I was totally incompetent. So, she would lead me; angrily spinning me around like a rag doll, trying to keep me from crushing her toes and cursing under her breath in Mandarin.
After our (my) clumsy episodes, the teacher would often show the class footage of competition dancers doing the dances how they were meant to be danced. It really was a thing of beauty. It looked so effortless, and the dancers seemed to just lose themselves in the flow. It was sublime just watching, and I’m sure a joy to dance so wonderfully.
Jesus, when He was here on Earth, was engaged in a kind of ‘divine dance’ with His Heavenly Father and the Spirit. He said, “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.”
His Father perfectly led, and Jesus perfectly followed.
C.S. Lewis said, “[Christians] believe that the living, dynamic activity of love has been going on in God forever and has created everything else. And that, by the way, is perhaps the most important difference between Christianity and all other religions: that in Christianity God is not a static thing–not even a person–but a dynamic, pulsating activity, a life, almost a kind of drama. Almost, if you will not think me irreverent, a kind of dance.”
As Christ followers, we are also engaged in that divine dance. We are to hear our Bridegroom’s voice and respond to Him. In our obedience, we demonstrate our love for Him (John 14:21), but we also learn the joy of following His leading.
In this life, we are, if you allow the metaphor, taking dance lessons. Lessons that are training us for the greatest dance of all-the wedding feast of the Lamb when Christ finally takes His Bride.
The music is playing, and our Partner has asked us out on the floor to dance. Will you say yes?
Questions for Thought
Do you know how to dance?
How important is it for the Follow to respond to the Lead?
How have you been resisting God’s leading in your life?
