Save the last dance for ME

As I was walking up the stairs before church this morning I heard the intro to "Ain't no mountain high enough" coming though the laptop speakers.

I am a dancer. I'm definitely not just girl who dances, even when "grounded", I am still a dancer. Most of the time I'm moving, I tend to run or skip my way through life, and if I could I would absolutely go out and dance in the street every day. When I'm dancing I feel as though all is as it should be in my world. It's my bliss. My point is this, I love to dance, and will justify any excuse I can muster as a perfectly good reason to do it.

Thus the reason for my immediate booty shaking shenanigans this morning as that song came on.
My adorable four year old was entertaining himself on the floor at the top of the stairs as my groove thing began shaking. He gives me a few, "oh mom, you're so embarrassing " looks and as the chorus comes, I reach out my hand and ask him to come dance with me. He shakes his head, blushes, and says, "no mama!". I  dismissed his reply and danced along to the song for a minute as I was finishing my hair.

I had no Idea that his reply would come back to me at church in the next hour and rock my world.

As we sat down after worship our assistant pastor, Tom Anthony, says he hopes to shatter the ideas we have about God. I always get excited when Mr. Anthony does the sermon because of the unique way he delivers the word of God. The passage we focused on was Zephaniah 3:17(esv) "The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you with his love; he will exult over you with loud singing." The verse was broken down into 5 truths about God, correlating with the 5 separations in the passage. Parenthesis added by me:

1. He is here.
(Always He is in our presence, even in times when we don't necessarily "feel" Him.)
2. He is the main character of our stories, our lives.
(God is not a mere character in our "casts" He has the leading role.)
3. He is a "proud papa".
(He is proud of His children, He is thrilled to call us His own.)
4. He fills the void.
(The desire for love that is in the soul of every human being can only be filled by God, only His love can quiet that yearning.)
5.His love is extravagant.
(God would have no trouble standing on top of a mountain and screaming to the entire world how much He loves each and every one of us. In fact, He did. The mountain was called Calvary and the declaration of His love for us was blood. His blood, poured out in the most shameful and humiliating way conceivable. Not to mention the separation He had to endure from God in those moments. That visual always makes me quiver.)

These points were enough to make any Christian come to a renewed understanding of our Mighty God who saves, but the next part of the sermon really broke my heart.

Tom related our relationship with God to his relationship with his wife. The scene he set was scripted perfectly. When his wife comes to him and tells him she loves him, he doesn't answer with a blase' response. He doesn't say "ya sure", or "mmhhmm", not even a "love ya too babe". No, when his wife tells him she loves him he pulls her in close and whispers in her ear "I love you more than anything". He related this life experience to our response to God.

When we read the bible, God's love letter to us, how do we respond?

At this point I began thinking about my little boy and the answer he gave me when I asked him to dance this morning. Now, clearly he is 4 and I am by no means offended at his "manly" rejection. However it made me think. Suppose I am at an elegant ball and Jesus(Seriously JESUS; my King, my Redeemer, my Everything) sought me out a midst the sea of people, offered me His scarred hand, and said "Sara, my love, dance with me." 

How would I respond to that?

Part of me thinks I would fall to my knees in humble submission asking myself  "why would He want to dance with me?" Another part of me thinks I would jump into His protective, loving arms and giggle with delight. Perhaps, I would be struck silent at His beauty and quietly take His hand while savoring the loving words He would whisper as we glided across the floor.

But, would I really? Do I really accept Him like this?

Most often I don't. My reaction is minor compared to what it should be. I acknowledge Him and praise Him but not with the passionate fervor I should. Not with the excitement only He deserves. There are days I'm more excited about a cup of coffee than I am about spending time with the Lord. What a rotten response to my King. It's heart breaking to think that I respond to my groom in such an apathetic way. And it's heart wrecking to think of breaking His heart with my rejection. 

Accept His gift of love with reckless abandon. He alone deserves our wholehearted devotion and passionate obsession.

Dance with Jesus.

Freedom

Psalm 72:14 "From oppression and violence he redeems their life, and precious is their blood in his sight."

When peace washes over you, as you decide to do something you didn't believe you had the strength to do, you know that God is with you. The battle is already won. There is  an assurance of a great blessing about to be bestowed on you (James 1:17).

Fiercely determined,  and with divine power I looked "him" straight in the eye; from a part of my soul I had thought long dead, came a carnal, righteous anger. Finally after more than 20 years, the pain in my heart was given a  voice. I experienced freedom yesterday on a level I didn't believe in.

Romans 8:37 "In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us."

In the old testament, the Lord makes it clear many times that the battle is not ours to fight. He offers rest in the midst of misery, chaos, and war by His continual promises of victory and deliverance. Then, again in Romans, is this precious verse, He gives us the full picture of "More than conquerors". God isn't about just bringing His beloved through the fire and saying "look at that champ, you survived". No, He brings us through the wilderness, the deserts, the storms, the bloodshed, the trials, the suffering, the desperation, and says "I am so consumed with love for you that I refuse to just let you survive this, you are my child, and no one will mess with you. I, the Lord of everything, will prepare a table before you in the presence of your enemies, defeating them is not enough, In MY PERFECT NAME you will annihilate them and stand on top of the mountain of God before them."

Heck yes!

So many times the nature of our God is diminished by our minds' inability to comprehend. He is a defender of His people. His fury at injustice and oppression cannot be matched by any anger we may experience. He is adventurous, wild, and always good.

Thank you Jesus for being my Knight.

I am humbled by the healing and freedom Jesus gave me through this experience. I am brought to my knees by His protection and redemption...again. My heart is dancing for my Jesus, my guardian, my strength, the love of my life, the King of my heart, my fire, my beauty, my reason for all.