Who is God?

Dancing.  Just that one word invokes joy to my heart.  It invokes it because it involves music, rhythm and movement.  As I have developed my relationship with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit they have shown me many truths.  I don’t have all the answers you may be looking for but I have experiences that I’d like to share in hopes that it will make you want to know them better for yourself.  

A few years ago I was sitting in the corner of a busy gym.  The gym was full of high school students either bumping a volleyball, playing basketball or walking around the edges.  It was a sight of chaos the same way that my life was feeling at the time. I’m always striving and wondering what my next step in life should be, where should I be headed, what should I be pursuing and I’m always second guessing if I’m on the right path.  As I was staring across the busy room I was looking directly at the other corner of the gym that was empty and Jesus came to mind. Not only did he come to mind but the verse about him being the cornerstone came to mind. I imagined him standing across that crowded gym in the opposite corner that I was in and what it would take for me to get to him.  I would have to dodge balls, look to the left and the right, put my hands up to protect myself and it wouldn’t be an easy task. As I’m figuring out all the things I’d have to do to make my way to him, he starts to walk towards me and when he does I am transformed to a crowded bar scene with smoke in the air, people dancing, being loud and laughing. He kept coming my way, almost like he was floating on air not paying attention to anyone else and we he reached me he put out his hand and asked me to dance.  In that moment, I knew I was meant to dance with Jesus throughout the rest of my life and that my focus should be towards him, but I didn’t know how to go about doing that. I didn’t know what kind of dance we were going to do although I felt like it was going to be a slow dance. One of those slow dances that I’m not very comfortable with. The kind that you have to let him lead or it’s going to feel like you don’t know what to do next because you’re not trusting him for the next steps.

I’ve known for a long time that God made me and he loves me, that Jesus came to this earth to die on the cross for my sins and to save me and that the Holy Spirit is here to guide me.  I’ve spent many hours pursuing these truths so that I can live loved, lived freely and dance because the holy spirit moves me.

Like I said before, the word dancing just brings so much emotion and joy to my mind and when I partner that with the love of Jesus Christ and the rhythm and movement of the Holy Spirit it just makes my heart swell.  

As far as how I view God, I view him as a Father.  A heavenly Father. I believe most of us have distorted and false views of God.  How can we not when our earthly Fathers are so imperfect. Don’t get me wrong about what I’m saying about my earthly Father.  He is a man of God, a man who raised me to believe in God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit but a very imperfect, earthly man whom I decided to rebel against at a very early age. Growing up, I was always very close to my Dad until I reached puberty and then I started to turn away from him and my Heavenly Father’s arms of love.  My Dad has always been a fun guy to be around. He likes to laugh, make others laugh, dance, and have fun. I also have had other Father figures in my life that have helped me along in my view of God. My Grandpa Pelton was a big jolly guy. Very loving, fun, had a big jolly laugh and a crooked smile. I also really have a love for Santa Claus.  I love his rosy cheeks, his big belly, his warm white beard. I’ve never seen God but I imagine him to look like either Santa Claus or my Grandpa Pelton...not until recently.

I was out for a run and a really great upbeat Christian song came on, I was thinking about various things when a vision came to my mind.  It was this old man with a white beard wearing a white robe with a rope belt and he was dancing. Or at least I think he was dancing but I’m not quite sure what kind of dancing he was doing. It was almost like a hop along type jig that an old man would do.  I realized in that moment that it was God. I started laughing saying to him, “What kind of dancing is that?” He said to me, “Don’t make fun of me, I created dancing!” Point taken! I went about my jog, thinking about that vision off and on throughout the next couple of weeks.

I try to get up early enough each day to read, pray, journal and then exercise before work.  Some mornings I really don’t feel like getting out of my robe so I’ll just put on some music and dance around the house.  I have a mirror in my bedroom that allows me to see my whole body in it. I’m wearing a red robe on this particular morning and this really cool upbeat song I’ve never heard of comes on.  I’m dancing away and in the lyrics is says, “Look in the mirror and what do you see?” I glance in the mirror and I’m doing a hop along type jig that my Dad would do. People tell me all the time that I look just like my Dad and when I looked in the mirror that’s who I saw.  In that moment I realized that God gave me that vision to show me that God also looks like my earthly Father. Matter of fact, God lives and looks like all of us. We are all created in his image. God lives in all of us, we just have to chose to allow him to come out in us. God is a loving heavenly Father, a Father who will discipline you lovingly, a Father who will comfort you, a Father who will teach you, a Father who will help you choose the right path, a Father who will give you boundaries and best of all a Father who will get Jiggy with you:)

If you’d like to know who God is and really know for yourself.  Ask him and he will show you. You won’t regret it. All it takes is a little trust that he is real and that he loves you and wants you to know that.  Lay down your views of God and give it to him and see what he shows you. You may be surprised as I was to see that he is the creator of this great and wonderful dance!