When I meditated on the word "guidance,"

I kept seeing "dance"
at the end of the word.

I remember reading that doing
God's will is a lot like dancing.

When two people try to lead,
nothing feels right.

The movement doesn't flow
with the music,
and everything is quite
uncomfortable and jerky.

When one person relaxes
and lets the other lead,
both bodies begin to flow
with the music.

One gives gentle cues,
perhaps with a nudge to the back
or pressing lightly
in one direction or another.

It's as if two become one body,
moving beautifully.

The dance takes surrender,
willingness,
and attentiveness
from one person
and gentle guidance
and skill from the other.

My eyes drew back to the word
"guidance."

When I saw "G"
I thought of God,
followed by "u"
and "I" dance.

God, you and I dance.

This statement is what
guidance means to me.

As I lowered my head,
I became willing to trust
that I would get
guidance about my life.

Once again,
I became willing
to let God lead.

- author unknown

A 'Different'-Footprints

Now imagine you and the Lord Jesus
walking down the road together.
For much of the way, the Lord's
footprints go along steadily,
consistently, rarely varying the pace.

But your prints are a disorganized
stream of zig-zags,
starts, stops, turnarounds, circles,
departures and returns.
For much of the way it seems
to go like this.

But gradually, your footprints
come more in line
with the Lord's, soon paralleling
His consistently.
You and Jesus are walking
as true friends.
This seems perfect, but then an
interesting thing happens:
your footprints that once
etched the sand next
to the Master's are now walking
precisely in His steps.

Inside His larger footprints
is the small 'sandprint',
safely enclosed.
You and Jesus are becoming one.
This goes on for many miles.
But gradually you notice another change.
The footprint inside the larger
footprint seems to grow larger.
Eventually it disappears altogether.
There is only one set of footprints.
They have become one.

Again, this goes on for a long time.
But then something awful happens.
The second set of footprints is back.
And this time it seems even worse.
Zigzags all over the place.
Stops. Starts.
Deep gashes in the sand.
A veritable mess of prints.
You're amazed and shocked.
But this is the end of your dream.

Now you speak.

'Lord, I understand the first scene
with the zigzags and fits and
starts and so on.
I was a new Christian, just learning.
But You walked on through the storm and
helped me learn to walk with you.'

'That is correct.'

'Yes, and when the smaller footprints
were inside of Yours,
I was actually learning
to walk in Your steps.
I followed You very closely.'

'Very good. You have understood
everything so far.'

'Then the smaller footprints
grew and eventually
filled in with Yours.
I suppose that I was actually
growing so much that I was
becoming like you in every way.'

'Precisely.'

'But this is my question.
Lord.. Was there a regression or something?
The footprints went back to two,
and this time it was worse than the first.'

The Lord smiles, then laughs.
'You didn't know?' He says.
'That was when we danced'."

--Author Unknown

Click Here
To Share this Page

© Tina's Prayer Gate
2001