When the night is darkest, God brings a light. When everything seems to be hopeless and futile, God guides us to green pastures and still waters. When the light at the end of the tunnel is small, God guides us toward that end and with every step we will see that the light becomes brighter.

When the people of Israel were at a point of hopelessness, Jeremiah proclaims that God can restore them to a point where they rejoice and dance. He says, “I will rebuild you, you will be happy again and dance with your tambourines.” (Jeremiah 31:4) If the people of Israel follow God’s guidance, he says, “the young women will dance for joy and the men – old and young – will join in the celebration. I will turn their mourning into joy. I will comfort them and exchange their sorrow for rejoicing.” (Jeremiah 31:13)

God’s guidance leads to hope, restoration, joy and dancing.

Someone shared with me the following:

Dancing With God 

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 realized that, 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 by 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”.

“God, ‘u’ and ‘i’ dance.”

God, you and I dance.

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.

My prayer for you today is that God’s blessings

and mercies are upon you on this day and everyday.

May you abide in God, as God abides in you.

Dance together with God, trusting God to lead

and to guide you through each season of your life.

God can call forth hope out of horror – dancing out of despair. David experienced God’s guidance from a life of chaos to celebration. He said, “You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy.” (Psalm 30:11)

Guidance – God, “u” and “i” dance.

Let’s dance.