faith
Dance with the One Who Brought You
By Brooke Keith
Contributing Writer
CBN.com –
Years before your junior prom, long before your kindergarten rendition of the hokey pokey, God began a dance with you. Before He sketched you out, He first sat down with a pen and paper and orchestrated every line of your very own song. He fine tuned each note. Then, He imagined what it would be like to dance with you to its melody.
When you were still in your mother’s womb, He sang to you. When you were born, He struck up the band of angels and they began to play the starting measures. There’s an incorrect line in your mother’s brag book boasting of the night you slept ‘til morning . . . You didn’t sleep ‘til morning. Your parents never knew, but that was OK because He was there. He picked you up and swayed with you so your parents could rest easy.
He held your hand every moment of every day. In the quiet and hectic moments, He danced with you.
Still, in the midst of the melody there comes a time in every dance, when someone will ask to cut in.
Worry may try to whisk you away.
When we think of someone turning away from God, our thoughts often turn to immoral actions - drugs, sex, or keeping company with the wrong kind of friends. But, did you know that your thought life can be just as dangerous?
In Philippians 4:6, God tells us: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” God doesn’t want you to worry! In fact, almost every verse that mentions the words “worry” or “anxious” is preceded by the words “do not!”
God wants you to keep your thoughts on the positive because not only can worry be devastating to your health, it can also keep you from living the life of purpose and joy.
Temptation may beg you for a slow dance.
In the world we are living in, it’s not always easy to resist temptation. In fact, it can be downright difficult. But it’s important to remember the promise of I Corinthians 10:13.
“The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.”
The devil may try to charm you with a whirl around the floor.
In John 10:10, God tells us: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” God knows all too well that the Devil is a sneaky little booger. Although he failed miserably, he even tried countless times to charm Jesus into his “dance.”
Far too often we think of the devil as a red-horned, hideous looking mongoose. The truth is the devil isn’t ugly. He’s deceptively charming. While he may have wonderful disguises, if we listen closely for God’s voice, we will be able to determine when we are being lured into a trap.
So, how do we determine when God is leading us and when the devil tries to cut in? The words of I Corinthians 4:33 say it perfectly, “I (God) am not the author of confusion but of peace.”
When life’s distractions come and you are tempted to give in to their charms, lend your ears to the melody. Keep your eyes on God. The dance He set before you is one you will not want to miss.
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