Dancing in the Dark

We have a choice every morning we wake up, we can choose to sit still and wait for the light to come back or we can get up and dance in the dark. No matter what there are going to be obstacles that come before us in this life and it is simply because the enemy will never stop trying to steal, kill, and destroy everything that God creates. This has always been his goal and this always will be. If someone comes up to you and squares up like they’re going to fight you, but instead of fighting them back you just start dancing, that is totally going to throw them off and going to allow them to see the light that is within you and that you are not scared of them because of who is within you. Who knows instead of a fight happening the most epic dance battle might go down instead. 

Take a second to think of a situation that would have been completely different if you would have simply changed your actions to dancing. Doesn’t dancing seem like the better option? It’s the most fun and would have lightened the situation no matter what it was. It doesn’t matter how “good“ your dance skills are, it’s the action and reason behind your dancing that counts. 

Romans 8:18 reads, “I am convinced that any suffering we endure is less than nothing compared to the magnitude of glory that is about to be unveiled within us.“ Romans is the first of the letters that Paul wrote to different churches. He wrote each letter with the intent of encouraging, inspiring, and instructing each of these churches to live a better life. All of Paul’s letters focus on the importance of acting out of love and the importance of living a life like that of Jesus when He was here with us on Earth. Nothing that we ever face is put in front of us without a purpose. We are never stuck in the dark unless we choose to be. We might go through some seasons of darkness and some might be longer than others, but we will always come back to the light that is found in Jesus Christ. When we do go through a season of darkness instead of hating it we need to rejoice in it because we know for a fact that there are better things waiting for us on the other side. Each situation is either going to teach us something that we need to know, equip us with something we need, bring something into our life, or take something out of it. Never is a situation going to go unused. We can allow all of our baggage burden and shame to hold us down or we can jump around and watch more of our chains fall off each time our feet hit the ground. We should never have to be afraid of what those around us might say or think. If our fear of man is bigger and stronger than our fear of God, are we really living for Him or are we living for the world? We could jump so much higher if the pockets on our pants weren’t full of our past, if the backpacks on backs weren’t full of burdens, and if the suitcases we struggle to cary weren’t full of shame.

If we go a little further into Romans, we come to Romans 12:2. It tells us, “Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you, but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think. This will empower you to discern God‘s will as you live a beautiful life, satisfying and perfect in his eyes.“ Each of us are created differently for a specific reason. So why would we follow the masses when we are supposed to go somewhere else, do other things, and have different experiences than everyone else? There are so many different opinions in this messy world we live in. But there’s only one opinion that matters and that is the opinion that we need to set our eyes on with each sunrise. I know that you all are powerful people that don’t follow or confine a social norms, which sets you all apart from everyone that does in past, present, and future generations. I am sure that we have all heard it time and time again, but truly we are a generation of world changers. Not just the current generation, but also generations that are to come. The way that we live our life today, is how younger generations are going to see us live. If we are constantly negative and constantly tearing each other down, future generations are going to follow in our footsteps. However, if we show future generations that it is possible and that it is the best choice to dance and to love each other no matter what is going on, they are going to follow in those footprints instead.

Task #1: Take a moment and listen to the song Comforter by Amanda Lindsey Cook. As you listen ask God to reveal to you what baggage burdens and shame you are holding onto and carrying that need to be jumped and danced off. As He speaks to you write these things down on a note card or anything else you can write on.

I want you to jump. I want you to jump even when it feel that you were walking in the dark. I want you to jump and watch the chains fell off. Not just the change the world has put on you, but also the chains that you might have put on yourself as well. I want you to jump because you know that the gifts given to you are going to help change the current world in the world that is to come into the best that it can be. I want you to jump because you are forever free to praise our Heavenly Father in anyway that you want. I want you to jump because you are unique. I want you to jump because you were created to be yourself. I want you to jump because you don’t have to be or do what the world tells you. I want you to jump because you are always accepted exactly the way you are and there is nothing you need to change about yourself! 

Psalms 30:11 sums everything up perfectly, “Then he broke through and transformed all my wailing into a whirling dance of ecstatic praise! He has torn the veil and lifted from me the sad heaviness of mourning. He wrapped me in the glory garments of gladness.” HE IS CALLING US TO DANCE RIGHT NOW WHEREVER YOU ARE! HE IS CALLING US TO SET ASIDE ALL OTHER THINGS AND JUST JUMP AND DANCE! HE IS WRAPPING US IN JOY AND PEACE AND HAPPINESS RIGHT NOW! SO STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING, DROP WHAT YOU ARE HOLDING, AND ROLL UP YOUR SLEEVES AND DANCE! 

Task #2: Put on some hype praise music and dance your heart out! Dance like you have never danced before. Jump higher than you have ever jumped. Watch your chains fall off! Put the item that you wrote on earlier under your feet and jump on it! Those chains are coming off right now in Jesus name!!!

Prayer:

God I just come before you today and ask that you don't allow anyone to leave this blog today unchanged. Through your power and their surrender I know that you are going to change them and take all things holding them down away. I thank you for removing the vail that once stood between us. I am so thankful that you hear every need and every want of every person before it is even spoken out, I thank you for all that you have done and everything you will do. I love you so incredibly much. Amen