I was a new mom, thrilled with the gift of a baby daughter and filled with vision for raising her unto the glory of God. I couldn’t be more thankful for her life, and the privilege of being able to stay home to nurture her and the other precious children the Lord would give in time. Yet I was also coming to grips with how dramatically my life had changed. My growing responsibilities at home made it necessary to rearrange my schedule and scale back on some of my favorite activities. Some of the highlights of my days were to attend prayer meetings where I was able to worship and seek the Lord with my entire being through the Word, song, and dance. The reality of Psalm 149 filled my heart with great joy!
“Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the godly! Let Israel be glad in his Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their King! Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre! For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation…”
One evening I had been looking forward to attending a prayer meeting all day. However, I must have had an extra full day because once I had put my baby down for the night, an extremely large pile of dirty dishes lay glaring at me from out of the kitchen sink. I knew what my responsibility was…what would honor my husband, care for our family, and thus glorify God. The dishes had to be done and the prayer meeting missed. I knew that my service mattered to God, no matter how small and mundane. He had been showing me that through his word for several years, preparing me to be a wife and a mom. What I was not prepared for was how he would encounter my heart through his word while I was doing the dishes!
As I was scrubbing and rinsing, thinking about how much I wished I could be at the meeting, the verse from Matthew 28:20 began to resound through my spirit, “And behold I am with you always, to the end of the age.” It felt as if one of the lightening bolts from the throne of heaven (Rev 4:5) must have struck my heart, and I began to weep. The revelation that Jesus was right there with me while I was doing the dishes overwhelmed me! As awesome and right as it is to gather with other believers to seek the Lord in prayer and worship, it was just as right that I seek him with all my heart in the hiddenness of my home, in the midst of my daily duties. He was with me! He is with me! He will always be with me…to the end! He is worthy of all of my love and life in the great and noble tasks as well as the small and mundane ones. I knelt down and repented for all the times I had despised the daily duties of life as a wife and mom rather than used them as opportunities to encounter and praise Jesus. I acknowledged that one day in his courts is truly better than a thousand elsewhere. (Ps 84:10) Wherever I am, because the spirit of God is dwelling within me, can become the courts of the Lord where I meet him through his word and delight in the joy of his presence! As waves of mercy and joy washed over me, I got up and began to dance and sing. I sang the scriptures that the Lord had brought to mind. I put expressive movements to the songs and verses, and I had a truly glorious time! Every few twirls, I got some dishes cleaned, and by the end of the time, not only was the kitchen clean and put in order, but my heart was freshly cleansed and rightly ordered as well. Ten years later, I can truly say that chore time at my house has never been the same! Yet, I don’t always feel overwhelmed by revelation of the love and glory of God. I can still be tempted to see my ever- increasing (now that I have five children) daily duties as drudgery. In these moments, as the Lord gives me grace to fix my mind on his glorious word, to open my mouth and begin to sing his wonders, and to move my hands and feet to express the joy of my great salvation through Christ, the joy of the Lord floods my heart and strengthens me with grace for another round of laundry, dishes, wiping, and working….not to mention the eternal work of loving my husband, children, and neighbors for his glory!
I know that I am not alone in the desire and struggle for delight in the midst of duty. Gloria Furman has written two books recently, Glimpses of Grace and Treasuring Christ when your Hands are Full that have encouraged my heart to continue to press on in this regard. In addition to singing, dancing, and praying Scripture, I also find that my spirit is strengthened with grace in the middle of routine tasks when I listen to Christ centered, Bible based sermons and meditate/memorize scriptures that speak to the anxieties and concerns on my mind. There is nothing more thrilling than growing in the knowledge of God! The command of the Lord in Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice!” has become a compelling invitation to delight in the living God in the midst of all the diverse moments of my days. He has turned drudgery into dancing to the praise of His glorious grace!
thedancingkey 