(Note: some of this will be written in Spanish because of the connections. I will translate it in parentheses, even though it sounds better in Spanish.)
While it's perhaps not the greatest analogy and perhaps not the best situation, I was hit with the realization yesterday of how much bachata dancing (or any similar dance) relates to a relationship with God. Not in the sense that it's sensual, or anything like that. Allow me to explain:
When dancing bachata, the closer you are, the better, generally speaking. It's a lot easier to follow the person who is leading you the closer you are, because you can relax into the movement of your partner's body and feel where he wants to go and what he wants to do next. In fact, when the two partners dance pegados (that is, stuck together), that is when it is the easiest to detect what moves the other partner wants to do, and that is when it is the easiest to follow, and also when it's the most enjoyable because of the fact that it's simply just requires the willingness to follow.
There's a song that Jesús Adrián Romero does called "Pegado a Ti" (stuck to You) that completely relates to this theme. Basically, the closer we get to God, the better we are able to detect where He wants us to God and what He wants us to do. We can hear Him speak more clearly; His voice is more audible to us over the noise of the world around us. In fact, when we are pegado a Dios (stuck to God) as though we were dancing bachata, that is when it is the easiest to know where He wants to lead us and when it's the most enjoyable, because all we have to do is just follow Him. It can be kind of scary simply giving over to His lead and following, and sometimes we don't know the steps very well that He wants us to take and follow because they are new to us. But the more we dance with Him, the better equipped we are to keep following and keep dancing. The bottom line is that it requires a constant decision to trust God. It's not a one-time "yes, I'll follow You this time for this step," because if it were that way, the dance would stop in the middle. It's a constant decision to keep dancing and following Him and His steps.
I could keep going on and making connections but I think you get the point, dear Reader.
It's been hard for me very recently to keep trusting God and following Him. It's been difficult to remain pegado because some recent happenings have just had me so strongly desiring to not dance so closely, out of pain, out of fear, out of anger/bitterness. But the truth is that this is when I need to cling even tighter to Him, because quite honestly I don't know the steps on my own for this dance, and even if I did, in any dance it's not good for the follower to resist the lead. It messes up the whole dance and results in a dance that doesn't come close to what it could have been.
Proverbs 3:5-6 = "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight."
