The Balancing Dance

I heard the Lord say “My grace is sufficient for you. I have called you to walk a narrow path.”  

I saw what looked like a wooden beam, and I heard the Lord say “A balancing beam“.  

I saw images of a gymnast doing her routine on the balancing beam. Not only does she balance, but she moves with artistic grace. She’s intentional about every move as she performs this balancing dance. Pivoting, spinning around, keeping her center of gravity over the beam.  She moves with precision, as there’s little room for error. The crowd is in awe, watching her twist, flip and stretch on a 4 inch beam.

I heard the Lord say “I’ve called you to this intentional, balancing dance on the narrow path.“

The path is so narrow, there isn’t room to entertain friends and the opinions of others. It’s a road meant for just you and Holy Spirit. It requires extreme focus on the One, the Only, the Lord, as you move with Him, in step with Him.

People look at you and see you moving erratically, doing things that don’t “make sense“. Turning, pivoting at seemingly inopportune times. They say “Look at her over there by herself, a party of one.” They judge your decisions, but most of all how you don’t seem to care what other people people think of you. You don’t run with the crowd of popular opinion. What looks to them as foolish and nonsensical is perfectly reasonable to you.

What they don’t see is that you are dancing, and you’re not in the lead. Your partner is a better dancer than Fred Astaire, yet He can’t be seen to the untrained eye. It’s a dance of faith, adventure, and obedience. It’s a dance of intimacy and grace. You are in-step with Him. When He moves, you move. You let Him spin you on a dime. You are submitted. You are surrendered. You are hyper-focused on Him, your dance partner.

You look at others around you in groups, in ministries, making rational decisions. Their steps are ordered by the Lord as well. They move in community. They have well defined tribes and a sense of belonging. It would be OK to join them, even though you've tried and never felt like you quite fit in. You never fit in with the crowd, with the community. You doubted that you were a good team player.  Perhaps the trauma and rejection clouded your ability to see clearly. So you let Him touch you, heal you. You went through an intense season of healing, hidden away with Him. He healed your heart in the wilderness of His love.

So you thought,  “Surely now I'll fit.  Surely now He'll cause me to join in with the others and move with them.”  So you stepped out in faith and attempted to assimilate, only to have doors of access slammed shut in your face.

You can't seem to hold onto people for more than a hot second, and then He’s asking you to let them go their way. You know it's pointless to argue, to try to hold onto anything or anyone but Him. So you do the only thing that feels right, the only thing that has ever worked in your favor. You obey. It hurts, but you're getting used to the pain as it only draws you closer and closer to Him.

You could go with them. You are free to choose. But the longer you dance, the more apparent it is that you only have eyes for Him. So you choose submission. You choose the narrowest of paths with Him, doing the balancing dance.

There is no sense in fighting Him, wrestling with the Lord. The quicker you submit to his loving embrace, the quicker you can get back to dancing. In Him you move and have your being.  So you stop expecting normal.  You stop looking for the group, for the people to run with. They would only throw you off balance with your dance partner.

Instead you find others who dance the way you do. You do your dances separately. You are not connected in the dance with them, instead, you dance with the Lord around them.

You aren't called to isolate, although it can feel that way. You are called to separate.  Come out from among them and be separate.

Your “tribe”, if you will, are these ones.  Their eyes are locked on His in extreme submission and obedience to move only when He moves.  No one in this tribe gets offended when you don't call for weeks. They know you're busy dancing. They encourage you to stay the course. They say things like “Just keep going”, “You hear His voice.” and “You’re doing it right.” 

These are the only ones you allow to speak into your life. They’ve been tested. They are tried and true. They have no agenda, other than to see you run with Him.

These ones are rare. You don’t try to hold onto them, because they are dancing and you are dancing. But it seems your paths cross as you are spun around on the dance floor. Obedience naturally causes your path to intersect, and then you’re off again on your own course set by the Lord.