Dancing on Your Dash: Letting Your Dance Partner Lead

Have you ever had one of those days when you just don’t want to dance? Your feet hurt. The music annoys you. You’re kind of ready for a break from your dance partner.

Hello friend, I’m Kim Crabill, delighted to welcome you back to Strengthen Your Walk and our series, “Dancing on Your Dash” — discerning when and discovering how God has choreographed our daily steps to fulfill the incredible plan He has declared for each of our lives.

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Let’s just face it: “be honest” as they say. There’s an age-old, ongoing battle between our will and God’s. Are we in agreement with that? God says, “Let’s dance.” We say, “Uh, I’ve got other plans.” And just so we don’t feel so “all alone” or like the “only one” let’s take a minute today to look at such a battle that took place nearly 800 years before Christ entered the earthly scene. You can read all about it in the Old Testament book of Jonah.

So, you may have guessed — the story’s main character: the prophet Jonah, a man with a plan. But it wasn’t God’s plan.

“Go to the great city of Nineveh,” the Lord communicated and commanded His plan to Jonah. Yet, just two verses later, we learn that Jonah ran in the exact opposite direction … to Tarshish!

“What a loser!” we might think. “Who disobeys God like that?”

Uhh … well .. we do!

We may not physically run, but we certainly backpedal on God’s plan just the same. Remember as I share this there are no judgmental accusations, just honesty among friends. Because as we are honest, we all know that we make excuses, procrastinate … and we can get very, very busy with other very important stuff.

But … back to Jonah … He knew God’s gracious nature. He knew that just as sure as he went to Nineveh and instructed the people to repent, God would forgive them. And Jonah didn’t like that!

Jonah’s refusal to dance with God sent him on a downward spiral. Not a graceful en pointe, as we experienced last time, but a deep dive straight into the belly of a fish.

Was it a kind of spiritual “time out” for Jonah? Alone in the darkness … in the belly of the fish, he was forced to quit running, look around, and receive a revelation about the mess he’d gotten himself into. And … he was given time to think about how he might respond.

And, how did he respond? Oh friend … this is the good news! Jonah chose to confess!

“In my distress I called to the Lord,” Jonah says in Jonah 2:1.

And how did God respond? “And He answered me”. (Jonah 2:1)

Even though Jonah had resisted, when he repented God responded!

Here’s what we must remember and apply to our situations today … God wasn’t punishing Jonah. God was protecting Jonah. Jonah 1:17 says He … God … provided a fish to swallow Jonah. God gave him a space, you might say, to come to his senses. As soon as he did — as soon as Jonah cried out in genuine acknowledgment of his folly — and repented, God, according to Jonah 2:19, “commanded the fish to vomit Jonah onto dry land!” And Jonah was saved!

Did this rebellion negate Jonah’s calling? I mean that’s what we think today, isn’t it? Being “honest” that is. Many of us believe we have sinned too badly, run in the wrong crowd or in the wrong direction too long to be used by God? If these are your thoughts, let’s read the rest of the story. After all Jonah had been through we read, ”and The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time” (Jonah 3:1).

Who’s thrilled to hear this!!!!

Listen friend, the Bible assures that we have all fallen short of God’s mark, but here’s the rest of our story. According to Romans 11:29, “our gifts, our calling from Him are irrevocable,” meaning He never withdraws or strips us of our purpose!

Here’s the principle: According to scripture: God will give us many, many chances … but he will NEVER change His plan. As we repent and submit to His will, He restores and shows us the way!

What God knows, but we may not, is that when He hands us a dance card that is so counterintuitive that we want to run in the opposite direction, it is actually an opportunity to stretch our spiritual wings and grow. And flow. And yes, that will cause us to dance on our toes.

Do you feel as though you are currently residing in the smelly belly of a big fish? Do you feel more of the darkness than the dance? That’s OK. It just so happens that God is not afraid of the dark … and He is willing to meet us right where are.

So today friend, you can strengthen your walk by forgetting about yesterday … and saying yes to the One who invites you to another chance to dance today!

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