Rhythm of Life

A few years ago, I was at a school dance. One of the dances was a waltz and it required me relying on the guy to lead. I struggled with this, because in past dances, the guys didn't lead. I was used to leading. So, when a guy who knew how to lead and wanted to lead came along, there was a barrier. My control. The dance was at first awkward and we were struggling to find the rhythm. Toes were definitely stepped on a few times. At one point, the guy said "You're not letting me lead. Let me lead you."

He didn't say it in a rude way, but he was just voicing that we couldn't do the dance properly until I allowed him to lead. Until I allowed us both to fulfill our roles. At first, I was taken a back, but he was right. I was so used to leading that when it was time for me to follow, I had to be intentional about breaking the mindset of leading/controlling. I had to submit to the process of his steps and his way of leading.

I was thinking about this the other day and wondered, how often do I act this way with God? How often do we try to step into His role and control, lead, and ordain? And when we try to take control, the only thing we get is a chaotic mess. This results in us being afraid to step, because we don't feel like we are being lead. We don't know where to put our foot or when to take that next step, so it feels awkward. I've also been watching Dancing with the Stars lately and one of the biggest things people get wrong is the timing. But when they trust their partner, when they listen to the music, it all falls into place. I never want to try to drag God along a dance He choreographed. How funny that He has ordained everyday, but we still try to tell Him what it should like. We try to tell God that He isn't doing it right. But, what if we submitted to His leadership, His authority, and followed His steps? What if we took His hand, looked at His eyes, and let Him lead? How much more beautiful would we glide through the rhythms of life? The God who choreographed the dance of life, wrote the rhythm, and has the tempo memorized, has invited you to join Him. The question is, will you trust Him? I think we find ourselves in that awkward situation I was in, but with God sometimes. We are dancing through life, but it really looks more like a stumble. The timing is off, the steps are off, we aren't taking the right steps, and before we know it, so much time has elapsed that the dance is over. When I was dancing with that guy, once he voiced that I wasn't letting him lead, I started being intentional about not taking control. I just followed his steps, trusted he was listening to the music. Once I surrendered the control, we actually danced. There are many moments in life where we will be faced with a choice. A choice to try and lead ourselves, or a choice to surrender to His leadership. Trust that He knows what He is doing. Even though we may have been misled or hurt by other leaders or friends in our lives, the Lord never fails to lead us. He will never misstep or miss the timing, He leads perfectly. So often we turn to the Lord and ask where He is. We wonder why we don't feel lead, yet, we haven't submitted to His leadership. When we overstep our level of control, the rhythm of our lives becomes chaotic. No matter what life looks like, if we continue to keep in step, and remain surrendered to His order, we will dance through life with grace and elegance. It doesn't mean every step will be easy, but we can take it in confidence because we know the One who has ordained it. But the second we take our eyes off of Him. The second we begin to question His sovereignty, His timing, His ability to lead, an elegant dance turns into a clumsy stumble. He organized the rhythm of your life, why wouldn't you trust Him to lead you through it?