a mighty hand stayed, waiting

and we walked for a while.
and we talked for a while.
and we danced, hand in hand, eyes locked into the smoke of the other’s gaze.
the music was soft, my spirit rested.
this is love, thought i.
this is peace.
this is joy.

but then, a sudden change in the music prompted my feet to move quicker, my heart to beat faster, my eyes to suddenly falter.
but still we danced.
spinning and twirling, my feet barely could keep up with the melodies and symphonies that erupted in explosions around me.
and my eyes slipped from your eyes to the place where my feet moved.

and i fell.

pain sang dissonant hymns from the deepest parts of my being, and i screamed out in anguish.
GOD, where are you?
and you came out of the whirlwind of dancer and song to reach out and raise me from my troubled mess.
and i saw your hand, but i resisted.
GOD, why did you do this to me?
GOD, why did we dance so fast?
you know i’m not a good dancer.
and you did not answer me, but stayed your hand, waiting for mine.
but i stayed on the floor, amidst the chaos and the calamity, for i was ashamed to get up.
i was bitter about the music, the dance that i had been forced into.
i will not dance with you again, GOD.
so i ignored your hand, and i crawled through the pulsing crowd to a place abandoned and distraught.
only death lived there.
there i made circles in the dust while i stared into the east and remembered the better days; the days where we danced as one, slowly and surely, to a symphony i thought better than the new one.
why were the former days better than these? thought i.
and as i gazed deeper and deeper into my pride, and swam farther into the ocean of my pity, i heard a soft, gentle note float upon the frayed and broken western wind that graced my ears and tickled my heart.
turning, i looked and saw your hand, stayed, waiting.
the crowd of dancers was left behind, the allegro barely audible.
a single adagio dripped sweet notes and melody from a lone violin.
and your hand stayed, waiting, waiting for my response.

you did not abandon me to my death.
you did not abandon me to my pride.
you did not credit to me my arrogance.
you met me in the dust.

and there you waited for me to take your hand.
what a beautiful savior.
what a wonderful friend.
so my hand went forth and met yours, and electricity pulsed throughout my being.
it is you.
you have come.
and there is nothing else to hinder our dance.
and so we danced, and this dance was better than the first. it started out slow, and then quickened as my heart quickened to yours, my hands firm in yours, my eyes locked on yours.
the music is going faster now, but still we dance.
the melodies and symphonies may come, but i shall no be afraid. the notes and chords do not frighten me, the tempo does not make me tremble.
we dance, trust upon trust.
how can i be afraid when you have made me?
how can i not dance when you have saved me?
you alone are my joy.
you alone are my peace.
you alone are my LORD.

and yet you dance with me, a wanderer from grace, who once sat in dust and ashes.

“The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.”
Zephaniah 3:17

he has not forgotten you.
he has not forsaken you.
look up and see his mighty hand, stayed, waiting.
he waits for your response.
our GOD is a God of dancing.

and how he longs to dance with you.
he yearns for you to dance with him.
he longs to feel your hand in his.