“And David danced before the Lord with all his might…”  2 Samuel 6:14

Marlee Martin had never danced before— well, other than at weddings and bar mitzvahs. Now for the past month, she's been cha-cha-ing and quickstepping for eight hours a day.  She has been stepping, twirling, dipping, smiling, clapping, spinning, planting and jumping all in time with the music. Never mind that she can't hear a single note, beat or tempo change because—she’s deaf.  The Academy Award-winning actress is a contestant in the popular ball room dancing program, Dancing With the Stars.

Although I’m not a fan of the program, Ann ‘invited’ me to watch Marlee perform one of her routines last week.  It was fascinating to watch someone who can’t hear a note of music execute a solo dance routine with flawless, graceful steps and rhythm. 

It really was inspiring. That wife and mother of four cannot hear—but she can still feel the beat.  She can still dance, she can still move to the music. I hope you can, too—no matter what limitations you may be facing right now.

Let’s look at the model Paul and Silas gave us in Acts 16, beginning with verse 25. The preceding verses tell us that these two missionaries have been attacked by a crowd who were incited by false accusers. The Bible uses these words to describe what Paul and Silas had to go through: they were stripped, beaten, severely flogged, and thrown into prison. Then the Bible says they were put in an inner cell and their feet were fastened in stocks.

That is enough to beat the song and dance out of anyone. But according to the scripture, "about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them." The Bible goes on to report that when an earthquake shook that prison, the jailer himself came running to Paul and Silas for help. He and his whole family came to Christ that night.

There's something very compelling about someone who refuses to be taken down by the worst of circumstances, who can still hear God's music, who can still be in step with God's song no matter what. Now, that music is more than a positive attitude—the Bible calls it joy, and joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit in our life.  The music is relationship that keeps finding things to thank and praise God for instead of things to complain about.  God’s song of ‘good news’ should keep us in step with his purpose and reason for our life.   

Maybe you're in a season right now where you've been sidelined. You feel set aside, held back or restricted. You're in a situation or maybe you have a condition that is making you very aware that you're really limited. Not all prisons have physical walls. It's easy to get frustrated, to become self-pitying, negative or bitter. But you can choose, as Paul did, to continue instead to enjoy the Lord, to still make his music for others and yield your steps to him.  In fact, people will listen to what you have to say about Jesus because of what you're going through.

Centuries ago, the poet Richard Lovelace wisely observed, "Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage." He went on to say, "If I have freedom in my love, and in my soul am free, angels alone, that soar above, enjoy such liberty." Your soul can be free, no matter how imprisoned the rest of you may be.
Paul said of similar experiences to that in Philippi, "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair…struck down, but not destroyed (II Corinthians 4:8). Yes, he had a lot to handle—and even when he didn’t hear any music, his spirit danced. No matter how deafening, how paralyzing any given situation may be, the music of God is always there for those who choose to be led by it.

Put on your dancing shoes,

Art

To find the lost, To heal the broken, To feed the hungry,
Release the prisoners, Teach the nations, To bring Christ to all,
To make music in the hearts