Did you ever go to a dance when you were in junior high? You know…one of those awkward parties where the boys stood on one side of the room and the girls stood on the other whispering and giggling as they glanced over at one another.
The music would play for what seemed like forever before one of the brave boys walked across the room and asked one of the girls to dance. Slowly but surely, most everyone would find a partner and spend the rest of the evening trying to figure out the secrets of talking to the opposite sex. After years of hating one another and getting “coodie shots” we suddenly wanted nothing more than to get all the “coodies” we could.
But there were always a few boys and girls that spent the evening watching everyone else dance. That’s the worst feeling in the world as far as I’m concerned.
Being alone in a crowd.
Not being part of the dance.
Maybe more of you can relate than I assume. I know I can. I remember watching all the pretty and popular girls out on the dance floor and wondering if I’d ever get the chance to experience what it was like to glide across the floor.
I realize that isn’t what was happening at 7th grade dances but it is what girls dream about. Having music that’s played just for them and being led by a man that knows exactly where he’s going.
I realized today that little girls don’t change much when they turn into big girls. They still want to be asked to dance. They still want a part in the beautiful story of life. They still want to have a song that’s just for them and a man that lovingly leads them through each beautiful twist and turn.
No 7th grader will get that and most women don’t either. In fact, I’m not sure any human can fulfill that need in us but we all have it – both male and female.
The desire to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. Something that only we can do. Something that has meaning and significance whether it’s a beautiful dance for a woman or a noble fight for a man. I believe we each have that kind of purpose in our life no matter how different it may look from one person to another. The problem is that we convince ourselves we don’t. We believe that our past, our sins or our limitations disqualify us from that destiny and we stop listening for our song. That one specific melody that God has just for us.
How sad to think we might be wasting our time hugging the wall while God is inviting us onto the dance floor.
I have to say that my one regret in life is that I didn’t become a dancer. I’ve always wanted to move in a way that would be like poetry in motion. To glide with grace and beauty that transcends the heaviness of this world and to know how to follow a lead with the slightest bend of a wrist or tilt of a shoulder. It’s probably not going to happen, but what might happen is that I learn to hear the rhythm of the song God has orchestrated just for He and I. I might be able to learn the steps of the dance He has planned just for me. And it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that I could experience the joy and freedom that comes from knowing exactly where I fit in His story.
I hope so. I hope that for you as well.
I hope that each of us become so connected with God that we only hear the tune He plays for us and we only move at the leading of His arms. That we feel the weightlessness of love and the heaviness of purpose. That we move as if we aren’t affected by gravity but that we’re grounded to the world that He has placed us in so that our dance has a beautiful impact on everyone around us.
Maybe they will even realize that God has a song playing just for them….and they’ll say yes when He asks them to dance.
February 4, 2016
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