Welcome my friends to season 3 of the Determined to Dance podcast. My prayer is that you’ll be encouraged to persevere daily in our chaotic world. Today’s episode, Dancing When It’s Not Easy, is about dancing with God in spite of our circumstances.

Show Notes: Dancing When It’s Not Easy

I’d had a difficult four months, starting in October of 2022. My husband had an unexpected surgery, the holidays arrived, then my Mother had a heart ablation. When February showed up at last, I was tired, down, and ready to give up. I mean I could barely keep up with it all. I woke up that morning and decided to play some music and worship God. I wanted to dance and sing with abandon to the One who’d been right by my side through it all. But as the first song ended, I struggled to even sing or clap, much less let go of all the weight.

Thoughts attacked. What a failure you are. Can’t even praise God. Why do you even try?

As I sat on my bed, unable to persevere, a different voice whispered in my soul. “It’s okay. I know your heart. I love you anyway. I still care, and I appreciate your effort.

God embraced me in such a beautiful way.

Paul and Silas understood what I was going through. In Acts 16, they were preaching the Word and seeing people come to Jesus. God had specifically called them through a vision to that area. So, what could go wrong? A woman with a spirit of divination constantly bothered them so Paul cast in out of her in the name of Jesus Christ. You’d think people would be happy when this miracle took place. Instead, verse 22-25 tells us: “Then the multitude rose up together against them, and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.”

Wow. Talk about dancing in the worst circumstances imaginable.

Jeff Walling says in Daring to Dance with God, “They (Paul and Silas) had exercised one of the greatest abilities the creator has afforded us: they had chosen to rejoice and dance with God despite their surroundings. Let me be clear. This is more than making lemonade when life gives you lemons. It is the capacity to dance when you can barely crawl. It is the choice to sing when you feel like crying. And it is doing so not out of ignorance or blind faith but because of an awareness of God’s sovereignty and your confidence in him.”

Paul and Silas could dance because they knew God. He had proven himself over and over. We can dance too.

By remembering what God has done for us in our past
By believing He still has plans for our future.
And by realizing we don’t have to perform to a formula or routine. The way we danced in the past can change at times and it’s okay.

They probably had little strength and energy by the time midnight rolled around in the prison, but they did what they could. They lifted their voices to God. Didn’t seem like much. But God knew their hearts and before the night ended, their chains were loosened through an earthquake and they led the jailer and his family to salvation.

Something I forget over and over is that God is patient and full of lovingkindness, mercy, and grace. He is for me. And He is for you.

When circumstances are difficult, dance the best you can. God is watching and will and can truly turn your mourning into dance.

Let’s pray: Father God, we praise and worship you for who you are. A God that understands, who doesn’t place cumbersome burdens on us, and instead loves and cares for us where we are. A thousand years of praise, worship, and thanks will never be enough to repay you for giving Your Son for us. We want to know you more and more each day.