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Heart Dancing
by: Jan Whitaker
I can never get enough of watching my granddaughter dance! She is fifteen years old and has been dancing since she was three. She’s tall and slender and has the perfect form for what it takes to be a ballerina. She was created to dance, and she is marvelous at it! Graceful, perfect balance and exquisite skills in her dancing formations, style and performance. Not a trait passed down from this grandmother! She’s a natural. Actually, its supernatural in that she is actively responding to who God says she is.
I’m involved with a group of dancers. They travel the world and do hip-hop and break-dancing while testifying of God’s love and preaching the Gospel to the nations. They are known as Global Expressions (*GX/L3). No, I’m not one of the dancers. But I have always wanted to dance! My feet don’t cooperate with the moves I see in my head, or vice-versa. I’m sure you get the picture. So, I dance in my living room while praising God to music. Its wonderful and heartfelt, but very private.
King David was just the opposite. He danced before many when he brought the ark of God into the City of David. “Then David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was wearing a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet” (2 Samuel 6:14-15). After the ark was in place, David hosted a party and gave everyone a loaf of bread, meat and a cake of raisins. They all rejoiced and believed their city would be blessed.
As we know, Michal (Saul’s daughter, David’s wife) was furious at David for such a humiliating exhibition and scolded him for it. David responded to Michal:
It was before the LORD, who chose me instead of your father and all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the LORD, over Israel. Therefore I will play music before the LORD. And I will be even more undignified than this and will be humble in my own sight (2 Samuel 6:21-22).
I love this! David danced with all his heart to God!
We have each been called to “dance” before the Lord. Whether that’s in our workplace, family or fulltime ministry. We can glorify and magnify Him in how we put our hands to what He has called us to do. If we cross the country in a semi (like my husband), stay at home and take care of little ones, or cross the oceans and declare the Gospel to thousands . . . we each are doing our own “heart dance” before God.
A few years ago, I experienced a major disappointment in my life. I found myself withdrawing from people and events. It affected my prayer life and my openness to God. It was awhile before I realized that I wasn’t trusting God in that area of my life. One Sunday morning during worship at our church an older man approached me. Although we were friends, he knew nothing about my situation. He shared with me what God said to him. He said, “Tell Jan that I miss my beautiful dancer!”
That melted my heart and awakened me. It was a precious reminder that God saw me right where I was and waited with open arms. It put everything into the proper perspective.
Zephaniah 3:17 NASV states: “The lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy. He will be quiet in his love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.”
The Hebrew word, “rejoice” means to “spin around under violent emotion.” The phrase “rejoice over you” literally means to “dance, skip, leap, and spin in joy.” (Taken from opentheWord.org)
It’s amazing to think that our God “dances” over us with joy! Let’s join with him. Afterall, He is the best dance partner!
*GX/L3, see: l3international.org
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