I’d love to share a special moment of mine with you. It’s the moment I became aware that God was real, that He saw me, and that He had a plan for me. 

I was thirteen years old. God was at the back of my mind, but He still decided to speak to me and win my heart for Himself. I’d grown up in church and believed that God existed, but I didn’t see God as a person who desired intimacy with me. On this day,  He showed me differently. 

This moment changed everything for me and now looking back, I see how God has spent the last decade revealing the depth, width, and height of the loving words He spoke to me one summer.

Setting the Scene 

Can I paint you a picture?

Imagine an old home movie being played on a screen; it’s from a moment from my childhood, caught on tape. In it, we see me as a child in my pajamas, afro hair pulled into bunches, and head thrown back in glee with the biggest smile on my face. I’m in peels of laughter as I stand on my father’s feet, holding tightly to his hands, as he dances with me across the room. I’m not scared because I’m looking into the eyes of one I trust. Though I don’t know where I’m going, I trusts that he does, so I’m relaxed in his arms, following His lead. 

This was a moment that I’d shared with my earthly father, but as it played across my mind, I felt God say that He wanted to recreate this moment with me. My Heavenly Father was claiming me as His child and inviting me into a relationship with Him. 

When I was thirteen, I went to a Christian summer camp and on the very first morning of the first day, God touched my heart. I remember listening to a talk; it impacted me so much I decided to stay behind and thank the speaker. 

Whilst waiting, the speaker’s wife approached me. As we were speaking, she asked, “Do you dance?”At first, I thought she had asked if I had danced during the worship but she clarified, “Did you ever dance as a child with your father?” Instantly the home video resurfaced in my mind and I was in floods of tears.

She told me that the Lord wants me to dance like a child in His presence.

In just a moment, I had begun the journey of learning to dance full of love and devoid of fear, overflowing with trust and confidence in who He is. 

Learning to Be a Child 

Often, I look at children and forget that I used to be one. How quickly adult life, with all its seriousness, takes over and it becomes harder to truly enjoy, to trust and not expect the worst, and to be joyful instead of jaded. We look at children and tend to pity their naivety when, really, I think we should look at them astonished at how we ever lost the wonder that shines in their eyes. 

Before we can learn to dance, we have to learn how to be children again. He has to restore our innocence so that we can regain the wonder. 

Matthew 18:3 says that unless we change and become like little children we will never enter the kingdom of Heaven. To become like children we must let go of our self-sufficiency because holding on is like saying we don’t need God. 

It’s time to humbly say we know nothing.

So much is unknown to young children, which is why they’re constantly asking questions! They’re not embarrassed by their lack of knowledge and they’re not defeated by it either. Instead, this state of wonder becomes rocket fuel shooting them toward greater wisdom and understanding. 

Are you constantly asking God questions or do you feel like you’re annoying Him? Maybe you grew up with parents who thought that children shouldn’t ask questions and shut down your inquisitive mind, and now you’re reluctant to come before God out of fear He will shut you down too.

God loves that we ask Him questions and desire His input.

It’s how we grow closer to Him! But it doesn’t end with us asking; we must then trust and obey when He responds. 

Trust and Obedience Give Us the Music to Dance

Trust and obedience creates the music that we can dance to. Revelation 4:8-11 tells us that there is an endless song of “Holy Holy, Worthy, Worthy” surrounding the throne of God. I believe that when we on earth say, “God I will do what you say because I trust you,” we are joining in with Heaven’s song and letting it guide our feet. 

Here in the UK, we have a TV show called Strictly Come Dancing where celebrities are paired with professional ballroom dancers and compete to be the winning pair. Week by week you watch them learn to dance as one, with each performance becoming more graceful than the last. Our dance with God is no different. 

In every two-person dance, there is a leader and a follower and if one person refuses to submit to the other, the dancers will get stuck.

To dance is to surrender. God is the leader that we can humbly and happily submit to as He guides us along the dance floor. 

This involves trust. Often we dance in a direction that we cannot see. When we tense up, refuse to take the next step, or we stumble, it can feel like the dance is ruined. Praise God that, instead, dancing with Him gives us an opportunity to learn from our mistakes! Nothing can be perfect without hard work and dedication, and our dance with God is the same. Matthew 7:7-8 reminds us that persistence pays off because those who seek, find, and those who ask are answered. 

The Dance Creates Intimacy 

Intimacy is the closeness between two people who are in a relationship; the closer they are, the more they know each other, and the deeper trust they share. Our dance with God is the same; we desire to be close to Him and to trust the steps He takes.  

Learning to be a child of God and growing in trust and obedience to Him are stepping stones on the path toward more intimacy with God. These experiences humble us to admit that we need Him, and once we’ve experienced Him, it makes us not want to ever be without Him. 

Like all couples whose love has stood the test of time through the good and bad, if we, too, remain faithful to God, our intimacy with Him will be beyond words. We will truly know Him and His character in ways far beyond our closest earthly relationships.

So, friends, I encourage you to submit to God: our Great Dance Partner and Perfect Leader. I urge you to relax in His arms, step onto His feet, and let Him guide you. Have courage, turn your back to the world, and gaze into the eyes of the One who is Beauty Himself. Remember that you’re standing on His feet, and in all things His pursuit is there.