Ballerina In Training

The beauty of the moves of a premier ballerina leave me breathless.  The amazing actions of a dedicated follower of Jesus, leave me awe struck.  Both people were not “zapped” with the ability to move in such a manner.

The premier ballerina dedicates her whole life to training and preparation.  Eating the right foods and daily exercise is a must.  Going over and over the same motion thousands of times until the master says it has been accomplished with precision is routine in her life.

It is also true with a dedicated follower of Jesus.  We dedicate our lives to training and preparation.  Learning God’s ways and His word, practicing the ability to notice His presence, to hear His voice and to see His moves in the ordinary routines of the day – is a necessity. It takes practice, practice and more practice.  Over and over again we practice listening for His voice, doing what we hear Him say.  Sometimes we fail but we get back up and try again.  Other times we hear Him right; we celebrate and are amazed that He choose to use us.  Then we return once again to the practice. Though God may choose to “zapp” one with some supernatural ability in any given moment for any one of His purposes, for the most part, He is our Master in the routine, training us moment by moment in the daily things of life.

This morning, I was washing dishes.  It’s a routine.  Not something I enjoy but is just a task that needs to be done.   God has been choosing to meet me there for training these last several days.  During this time as I normally think about the current joys, difficulties and concerns, the Holy Spirit, my Counselor, has been training me in new ways of thinking.  As He allows me to become cognizant of old thought patterns that are dishonoring to His name, He reveals their fruits: anxiety, bitterness, and the like.   He teaches me, and I practice a new way to think which brings honor to His name.  This way of thinking leaves me in peace and with a tranquil spirit.  He even gives me practical lessons on hearing and following his voice such as stopping to attend to another task.  Being willing to do any task as God directs, and using that dedicated time to Jesus-Life training is absolutely necessary to be ready for the “superior” performances.    The dedicated follower of Jesus must use each and every task as preparatory training.  This will enable one to be prepared on a moment’s notice.  In a blink of an eye on any given day or time, God can choose to use His people in powerful ways.  His Spirit and power will flow through amazing actions that leave the onlookers awestruck at with wonder of our Living God.  Yes, God just did that!  He used an ordinary person like me – like you – to perform the unimaginable. 

Premier ballerinas train everyday preparing for the day of performance.  They may have a date of a specific performance or they may have just finished one.  Regardless, they are intentional, dedicated and undivided in focus, never leaving training for another day.

We, too, need to be no less diligent.  Come along with me, dear one, into the training camp of God.

Now- let’s go practice, my fellow sojourner, the ways of Jesus Christ.