A DANCE OF SURRENDER

When I was first starting out my ballet career, I studied under one of my very favorite teachers of all time, Truman Finney. His classes were so simple, yet so hard, but all in the best kind of way. We literally did the same exercises at the barre every single day for the entire year. We never veered from these same combinations every day. In fact, when I feel inspired, I will still give myself a “Truman barre” at the top of my stairs, using the banister as a barre. The combinations are ingrained in my heart, my head, and my leg muscles.

Showing up to Truman’s class each day was a battle of my heart. I knew that sore muscles, a tired body, and pressure to be exact were part of the deal. It was intense to say the least. Showing up was half the battle. Once he began to snap his fingers to the soft hum of the piano and I kind of gave in to the fact that this cycle of combinations was making me a stronger dancer….his class was always a delight. By the end of it, I would realize that it was fun…really, really hard….but really, really fun.

The next morning, I would mentally and physically have to get to that place…this dance of surrender…all over again, but it was always worth it.

In this dance of life, I know I don’t like to give up control of my plans, my schedule, my day, my dreams…giving up control feels scary, backwards almost, and really, really hard. It’s easier to trust God with the small stuff, the easy stuff. But when it comes to the big stuff, don’t we all tend to want to take it in our own hands? We want to handle it. We want to hold onto it. We want to be in control.

But what if we took God’s hand in this dance of surrender…whether it’s of our dreams, our plans, our agenda…our hearts….and, in a way, gave in to the process of what He is doing in our hearts. What beauty might He have for us on the other side of surrender? My heart leaps when I remember this: we don’t surrender alone…it’s a dance. He leads us even in this.

Today, I don’t know what area of your life is kind of rubbing you the wrong way or maybe distracting you from having a peaceful heart. The thing is, we will always have things that try to steal our joy…worries, burdens, pressures, decisions…Jesus said,

“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

John 16:33

Jesus is clear…we will have trouble. But He invites us to “take heart”, and in a sense, take a step in this dance of surrender because He has overcome the world. “The world”…that covers all our stuff, all our troubles…He covers it all, dear one.

Will you step towards Him and trust Him, take heart, and offer up your heart in surrender?

Prayer: “Lord, You know where my heart is today. You know the thing that I want to control and hold onto. But you offer beauty on the other side of surrender. Lord, I want to hand this thing over to You because You are showing me that I can trust You with all my worries, burdens, pressures…all my stuff. I choose to take your hand in this dance of surrender.”