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Dancing with Jesus and Learning to Wait for His Lead

Belma Vardy

Updated: Jan 15, 2023


Imagine that one night you are woken from your sleep and Jesus is standing there, His hand extended toward you, and He is asking you, “Shall we dance?” You rise from your bed, offer your hand to Him, and off you go to dance with non other then the “Lord of the dance” Himself. As soon as your hand touches His you find yourself in a huge ballroom elegantly decorated with chandeliers, luxurious fabrics, a huge wooden dance floor with angels gathered around to watch and you are wearing a dress fit for a queen.


With loving strength Jesus takes you in His arms and leads you around the dance floor. He twirls you one way than another, swooping you into His arms and then spinning you out again. You become absolutely abandoned to the dance, lost in His love, secure in His leading. He pauses for a moment to slowly turn you and you feel His loving gaze fall more fully upon you. You dart a glance into His eyes and in that instant you see a love incredibly deep and pure for you. His joy seems to be only that He is dancing with you. And then as suddenly as it began, there you are again on your bed, heart pounding furiously, the dance is over, and Jesus is gone.


Dance for you would never again be the same. You would lie on your bed wide awake for hours, longing for just one more dance with this One who so adored and loved you. The intimacy you discovered with Jesus in the brief moment would transform the way you danced from that time forth. There was a season in my life where I used to ballroom dance weekly for a number of years.  As a man, I would be the one standing there with my hand extended and asking one of the many women who were there, “Shall we dance?”. The question implied that we would dance together. It was invitation to her that she allow me to lead her in a dance and that she would in turn follow my leading. This mutual agreement to lead and be led was what made the dance a dance.


Imagine for a moment that you again found yourself on the dance floor with Jesus, but instead of letting Him lead you, you simply did what ever moves you felt like doing. You would no longer be dancing with Him even if your hand continued to rest in His. There would not be the intimacy, nor the abandonment of yourself into His care and into the dance.


I remember once dancing with such a woman as I have just described above. I could tell she had previous experience as a dancer but had not yet learned how to respond to the leading of a man . Although my intent was to spin her once, she would turn twice. I would initiate turning her to the left and she would go right. Her upper body would be so busy that she was unable to discern my subtle leading. I had the choice to either use my strength forcing her to follow my lead or else resign myself to the realization that she was not one to be led and simply let her dance how she wanted. Either choice meant that we were not dancing together as one. I was simply holding her hand while we each danced our own dance.


As the woman grows in her ability to respond to a man’s lead she becomes more and more free to let Him worry about her safety and the direction and flow of the dance. The more she dances with him the more instinctively she responds to his lead such that she does not even think about it. She becomes so responsive to his subtle touch that if he were to stop leading her for a moment she would simply stand there refusing to initiate any further movement of her own doing.If she were to act apart from him, then the two are no longer one, but two…each dancing alone, side by side.


I tell you this story for Jesus stands before you even now and asks the question of you, “Shall we dance?” How will you walk on that dance floor with Him? Are you busy thinking about the moves you will be doing or is your heart quiet and still as you wait for His leading? Do you really want the responsibility that comes with the lead, or would you rather let Jesus do the driving and you close your eyes and enjoy the ride? Do you want to dance beside Him or with Him? I have never met a woman who wanted the lead and I suspect, if you are a woman, you are no different.


Now is the season for you, and the bride of Christ, to grow in your ability to recognize His lead. Trust me, Jesus is one awesome dancer and you will have the time of your life. Why not take a moment to tell Jesus you would love to dance with Him and express to Him your desire to grow in learning how to more clearly recognize His leading. “Shall we dance?”

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