Dancing

When a couple do some sort of Latin or ballroom dance, the female partner must let the male partner do the "leading" and show her off, while she does the "following". For me, I know I have always had some trouble with this. Sometimes it's because I catch on to the choreography faster than the other person. Sometimes it's because I think I know the steps when I actually am doing them wrong, but I think the other person is so I just ignore what he's trying to do and keep pulling him my way. Eventually it becomes tense and uncontrolled, and doesn't look good. And my partner will keep telling me, trying to get it through my head, "Let me lead you!"

I feel like God is this way with his people all the time. He keeps trying to do this dance of life with us, and we keep trying to do our own thing, and all the while He keeps pleading with us, "Let me lead you!"

Isaiah 48:17 = "This is what the LORD says--your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: 'I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.'"

Reading this verse today, I am reminded of the fact that I surrendered my life a while ago to knowing Him and following Him, not trying to lead He who cannot be led, because He is the ultimate leader and dance partner. Yet I inevitably find myself time and time again trying to do things my own way, or even someone else's way, because I think I know best, or I think someone else's way is better than mine or God's.

But honestly, do we really know ourselves as the One who created us from the inside out, who knit us together and imagined us before we were born (see Psalm 139:13)? Are we really so prideful as to think that we have it all together and we know what's best for us, more so than a God who created the universe? And I need to be reminded of this daily, because I'm human, and I make mistakes, and I forget. I don't think there's anyone who doesn't need to be reminded of the fact that we're only human, and yet that we are divinely loved and we are constantly being romanced by a being who loves us enough to bless us with free will that allows us to make the decision of whether or not to love Him back, or to even acknowledge Him. It's the kind of love that pursues and heals and cherishes and cares even when we turn and run our own way over and over and over.

May we have the courage to surrender and not keep trying to lead this dance, Reader, a dance we do not know even half as well as we would like. We can have hope in the notion that He knows what He is doing, even if we don't. He knows the steps.

God is a song

Exodus 15:2 = "'The LORD is my strength and my defense [or song]; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him; my father's God, and I will exalt him." (Moses's and the Israelite's song after Moses parted the sea)

Isaiah 12:2 = "Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD himself, is my strength and my song [or defense]; he has become my salvation.'" (Isaiah's reference to Exodus 15:2 and prophecy for the repentance and joy of the remnant of Israel after God's wrath as well as His providence and salvation)

What does it mean for God to be one's song? Think about it: The LORD, the LORD himself, is my strength and my song. The repeating of the phrase "the LORD" gives emphasis and a greater weight in the Hebrew writing style to the fact that it is God, nothing else, who is "my strength and my song."

He is my strength; I think I get that. I've seen it in Philippians 4:13 ("I can do all this [or things] through him [Christ] who gives me strength"), and I understand that He is the ultimate source of my strength, my love, my everything, along with the fact that He will never give me any situation greater than I can handle with His help (related to 1 Cor. 10:13). But my song?

Switchfoot sings worshipfully in "Your Love is a Song" that God's love is a symphony and a melody coursing completely through oneself. I suppose one could say that since God is love, God Himself therefore is a song. But I'm not 100% satisfied. I think it goes a little bit deeper.

And this may not necessarily be correct, because I'm writing and thinking and guessing and making a hypothesis I suppose all at once...but of course, this is my blog, not yours, dear reader, so I can say what I want. You're welcome to comment below and lend me your views though!

But here's what I think either way: I think more than God being love and His love being a song, God is a song. Period. He is this incredible, uncontainable, incomparable, hard-to-comprehend, ultimately divine being who is greater than anyone can possibly imagine with a faulty human mind. He breathes life into things and holds the universe in His hands, having created time and space and the life within it. He ultimately, by way of being who He is, is a song, in the sense that all His creation was made to reflect Him in a glorious symphony.

Lessons from Katie Davis

I am much more terrified of living a comfortable life in a self-serving society and failing to follow Jesus than I am of any illness or tragedy.
Kisses from Katie by Katie Davis, pg. XIX

While the Bible doesn't tell every person on earth specifically what his or her life's calling will be, it does include a lot of general direction:
"You are to find me in the least of these." Yes.
"You are to leave your earthly possessions and come follow me." Yes.
"You are to love and serve the Lord God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself." Yes.
"You are to go and make disciples of all nations." Yes.
"You are to entertains strangers and lepers and tax collectors." Yes.
"You are to show mercy." Yes.
"You are to live a life of mediocrity and abundance, holding on tight to your comfortable lifestyle, lest you lose it." No.
Kisses From Katie by Katie Davis, pg. 100

One of the questions that surprised me most was this: "Mommy, if Jesus comes
to live inside my heart, will I explode?"
"No!" I proclaimed as the children and I headed to the Nile River for a few of them to be baptized that day.
Then I thought about the question a bit more.
"Yes, if Jesus comes to live in your heart, you will explode." That is exactly what we should do if Jesus comes to live inside our hearts. We will explode with love, with
compassion, with hurt for those who are hurting, and with joy for those who rejoice. We will explode with a desire to be more, to be better, to be close to the One who made us.
Kisses From Katie by Katie Davis, pg. 108

Simply put, it's not about us. Though we each have a distinct and important role, we are not the main characters. Our purpose is less about us than we think it is. Our impact is much greater than we imagine it to be. We have free will to do what we want to a certain extent, but we also have the choice to give ourselves to one of God's crazy-awesome plans that end up being better than anything humanly conceivable. None of this stuff around us matters, for it will all disappear one day, whether death comes first or not. Possessions don't last, and it's just not worth it to base your worth on them. Love burns like a blazing fire, like a mighty flame (Song of Solomon 8:6b), and love endures all things (1 Corinthians 13:7). I want to "explode with love, with compassion, with hurt for those who are hurting, and with joy for those who rejoice" like Katie Davis says above. I don't want to be satisfied and comfortable with complacency. May we dare to rise above the status quo.

To learn more about Katie Davis and Amazima Ministries, visit http://www.kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com/ and http://www.amazima.org/.