The Dance

I have a friend who is a single mom. She gets very little help from her ex-husband financially or otherwise. In fact, he causes more stress in her life than is necessary. My friend works two jobs, maintains her home and finances. She parents a teenage daughter and an elementary school daughter; a huge task by yourself. She juggles their school activities, their extra-curricular activities, and their personalities. She volunteers at church, leads a small group, heads numerous committees at work, and is completing her masters degree. She does this all with a smile on her face, and while reaching out to others. Honestly, I don’t know how she does it all.

She called me the other day to tell me about a dream she had. She was dancing with a man. They danced for a while; she was enjoying it. Then he said, “Let me lead.” And she let him. A huge burden was lifted from her as she allowed him to take the lead. Relief and relaxation flooded into her being. Surely this was representative of her life. In her waking thoughts, she longed for this release of responsibility. She needs someone to share the responsibility of taking care of her family and home. In God’s economy, a husband is the leader of the family. That is what she is craving – some God-ordained leadership. She knows He will provide in the right time. Meanwhile, she will continue to take care of things.

I was pondering all of this as I prayed for her this morning. I was thinking about Jesus. I was thinking about our God-ordained roles in this dance of life, and how Jesus is the leader and we are to let him lead. We are part of this dance, but each partner has a role. That’s what makes it work. That’s what makes the dance beautiful.

Imagine if the leader didn’t lead in the dance. Then the two would be bumping into one another, not going anywhere, not knowing what comes next. Imagine if both dancers tried to lead. There would be a power struggle with jerky moves that wheeled each partner one way then another. Neither of these scenarios would work. There needs to be a clear leader. In our dance of life, it is Jesus.

Many times we don’t let him lead. We try to be the one calling the moves, not only in our everyday lives, but also when it comes to our redemption, our righteousness. We try to take the lead with our good works, our obedience. We think, “Oh, I”ll do this today and God will surely think I am good.” We think, “If I do this and this and this, surely I will go to Heaven.” Friend, this kind of thinking is futile: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Of course good works are part of what we do, part of the dance, but our leader, Jesus, has already done the thing that makes us right before the LORD: “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Jesus satisfied the wrath of God over our sins through his death on the cross because “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). He paid the debt, now offers us redemption.

Listen, there are some dance moves we just can’t do. There are some solo moves that only Jesus can accomplish. On the cross, the Heavenly spotlight was on him as he performed the moves no man can copy. Watch and be amazed, and when he holds out his hand and invites you to the dance, hold on and let him lead. It will be far more beautiful than anything you could do on your own.