While on the race, one of my teammates gave a message on Dance. Now, being a dancer, this intrigued me and grabbed my attention very quickly. She mentioned how dance was a big part of the culture here in Africa, and it is also a part of the culture in America. At weddings or celebrations, when a particular song is played that gets you hyped, everyone is on the dance floor, enjoying themselves and dancing the night away. However, when the song goes off and another one comes on that is not as exciting or not danceable, everyone stops dancing and exits the dancefloor and just waits for the next song to come on. She then stated that “life is like a dance and God is the DJ.” Sometimes God plays a song in our lives that we enjoy and move to the beat of. But other times God plays a song in our life that is slower or not as exciting, and we just stop dancing and wait for the next song he plays and hope that its more upbeat. Those words she was inspired to share really stuck with me, and here in Zambia, I was actually able to physically see how God DJ’s in life.
On Certain days, my team is split in half and goes in different directions around the community we are in to encourage people with the Word, and pray over people. My two teammates and I begin walking and going house to house. As we are walking, swarms of kids just run up to us with smiling faces and hold our hands and walk with us. As we walk, I notice a house on my right with an opening leading to the yard, and a lady sitting underneath the shade of a tree washing clothes or dishes. All three of us, with this large group of kids stop at the house and one of my teammates says lets go here. We start to walk up to the entrance, and as we are walking, we see a little girl standing off to the left, and we hear a sweet gentle voice say “hello, welcome, come on in.” We notice a woman walk around the corner, with a smile on her face motioning us to come. We tell the kids to wait here, as we proceed into her yard. By the time we get to the porch, this woman, has brought out benches from her home for us to sit on. As we get settled, we introduce ourselves, and tell her our names. She tells us her name is Betty and the girl next to us is her sister Everest. We tell her we are missionaries from America, and that we are living in the community for the month, and that we are going around the community getting to know people and build relationships, and pray for people and offer a word of encouragement. “ I love what you are doing, and it makes me happy. I am a Christian, and I love Jesus.” She says all of this with a big smile on her face. As we sit with her and talk with her, we learn that she had a job for about a year and a half, and now she no longer works there, and is looking for work. She is in her mid 20’s and is unmarried and has no kids. She wants to own a business and work. As I am hearing her, I felt led by the Lord to encourage her with Isaiah 43, where the Lord talks about doing a new thing, and how though she goes through the fire, she will not be burned, and when she goes through the water, she will not drown. She looks at me and says, “that is so good, and very true.” “You know, I see God and his miracles everyday, she says. Every time I wake up and breathe, it is a miracle, and i just sing and praise my God for the Life he has given me and everything in it.” The whole time she says this, I am just in awe because of the Joy of the Lord reflecting off of her. She then says how much she loves to sing and that her favorite song is Who Am I by Casting Crowns. We pull out our phones and play the song and she starts singing joyfully and we join her. We in return, play her one of our favorite songs, and it just turns into a worship session. After playing Reckless Love, she comments on how powerful the song is. We then pray for her and head off to the next house with the same large group of kids, except full of joy and awe, and extremly blessed for the gift we just received.
That encounter reminded me of the message my teammate gave. I visually got to see how this woman, full of pure joy, was dancing to life in accordance to whatever song God had for her. Though God’s song involved her not having a job, unmarried, and no children, she was content and joyful, and allowing that song of her life to help keep her dancing in rhythm to the one who chose to play it. She remained on the dance floor, letting God teach her how to dance to his choice of song, and she was enjoying every moment of it. Though she was content, she was excited for the next song God chose to play for her, regardless of what it was. Her dance caused me to reflect on my own dance with the Lord. To be quite honest, I wasn’t really dancing at all. Rather, I was just standing there watching , and listening to the song, not really embracing it, regardless of what type of song he chose. But, I have taken steps and bust out some moves since then, and I have also, left the dance floor, waiting for the next song to play. All the while God is working the turn tables and encouraging me to embrace the songs. On the bright side, at least I can know what type of songs are in his playlist based off of Ecclesiasties chapter 3 verses 1-11.
So how are you dancing to God’s playlist in your life? What song has he chosen for you at this moment? Regardless of what it is, I encourage you to embrace the song and learn the dance moves and let the song teach you how groove.
Until next time
Your Dancer,
Dyl
