A Singing & Dancing God

So many of us have a distorted concept of how God feels about us. We mistakenly believe that because our behavior isn’t always what we think it needs to be that somehow that affects His attitude toward us.

Of course you know that He loves you. After all, He’s God so the fact that He loves you is a given. But have you ever stopped to think about how He feels toward you? You know that, in human relationships, it is altogether possible to sincerely love somebody and yet still have negative feelings about them based on how they act.

Pause here for a moment and describe the way you think God has felt toward you most of your life:

What words did you use? There was a time when I would have used words like “frustrated, disappointed, hopeful (that I would do better),” and even “impatient.” That’s’ what I honestly thought, but the truth is that God isn’t like that. His feelings toward us don’t have anything to do with our behavior. Your past or present actions don’t have one iota of influence on how He feels about you.

Your God is a Loving Father, a Comforting Mother, a Faithful Friend and a Passionate Lover. However, He doesn’t relate to us in those roles in the imperfect way we have experienced them in this life. He is the perfect personification of the best of each of those relationships.

Which of the following words describe what you think God is doing right now:


___ Worrying ___ Resting

___ Laughing ___ Hoping things turn out well

___ Feeling anger ___ Singing

___ Frowning ___ Biting His fingernails

___ Celebrating ___ Loving


You know the correct answers here. God isn’t sitting up in heaven, hoping that things turn out okay down here on planet earth. If He were, He’d be worse off than we are. At least we can pray. He wouldn’t even have anybody to pray to for help!

I’m kidding to make a point. God is God! He has everything under control. He knows the end of the story. In fact, He wrote it and knows it’s a good ending. Is He indifferent to what goes on in this world? Of course not, because He hates to see us hurt ourselves. But God isn’t sitting up there with His mind worrying and wondering how it will all turn out in the end.

Somehow, by an act of His sovereign power that is way above our human understanding, He already has it all worked out. When Jesus finished His work at the cross, the Bible says, “He sat down at the right hand of God” (Hebrews 10:12). Why did He sit down? Because there is nothing left to do. It has all been accomplished in Christ so the only thing left now is for us to enjoy the relationship we have with Him until the time comes when we see Him face to face.

God isn’t busily working from heaven, trying to make sure it all turns out well down here. His focus is on you and the relationship you share with Him. He enjoys you and wants you to enjoy Him too. Consider the way His actions and attitude are described in Zephaniah 3:17:

"The LORD your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.”

This verse is the source of the title for today’s study. The Bible actually teaches here that God is singing and dancing at this very moment. The word exult is the Hebrew word which means to twirl in excitement, as in dancing. The verse goes on to say that God will “be quiet in His love,” literally meaning that He will renew you in love as He works in your life. Then it says He will “rejoice over you with shouts of joy.” The literal translation of that phrase would mean that He acts joyful and sings songs over you.

Can you imagine God singing as He joyfully works in your life to accomplish His purposes for you? That’s what the Bible says He is doing at this very moment!

I was teaching from this verse one day when Helena came to me afterward and said, “I was reading that verse not long ago and noticed that it says the Lord sings over us with joy.” ‘Lord,’ I asked, ‘Do you really sing over me? What could you possibly sing about me?’ “Immediately,” she said, “one of my favorite old songs from years gone by popped into my mind, word for word. At first I tried ti dismiss it, thinking, ‘This can’t be the Lord.’ But the song wouldn’t stop, and shortly I knew it was indeed the Lord singing a song to me."

Helena continued, “I heard Him sing to me, ‘You are my sunshine, My only sunshine, You make me happy when skies are gray. You’ll never know dear, how much I love you. Please don’t take my sunshine away!’ I realized then” Helena said, “just how much he loves me! To think that I am the sunshine of his live absolutely overwhelmed me!”

Someone might protest, “Why would the Lord sing a song to her like that one?” Don’t think that the only songs He knows are religious songs. He sang the song to Helena that He knew would thrill her heart. He wasn’t singing to Himself, but to her.

What song do you like that God might sing to you?

Remember, God knows your favorite songs too. He knows your favorite places, your favorite everything! His plan is to see to it that you are able to enjoy it all – beginning now and reaching forward beyond this earth-life toward the non-existent boundaries of eternity. Every good thing you enjoy in life is His love song to you.

The background music is always there because He is always singing. Do you recognize the tune? Remember, He doesn’t only know the religious songs. He knows every song and sings a thousand stanzas to you everyday – in the laughter of children, in the beauty of a sunset, in the music that stirs you, in the flavor of your favorite food, in the intimacy of your marriage. He knows your favorite song.

The song of God’s love for you resonates through the universe. Jesus said, “he who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Matthew 11:15). Do you hear the tune? Do you recognize Him singing to you?

My favorite place on this earth is the British Virgin Islands. All of the Caribbean is beautiful, but there is something about the beauty of these particular islands that is almost hypnotic to me. As Melanie and I vacationed there one summer, I lay in a hammock at Cane Garden Bay on Tortola, unable to keep my mind on the book I had brought to read. I stared out over the powdery, white sand across the crystal clear, blue water. As I watched sailboats on the horizon, at one point I literally felt a deep sense of joy and prayed, "God this is awesome! You did a great job here!" At that moment, a thought entered my mind as a still, small voice and gently whispered, "This is nothing. Wait until you see the rest I have for you!"

Think about your life for a moment. There have certainly been times in life when God sang His love to your through things you have seen, heard or experienced. Describe a time in your life that you know was God singing His love to you.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote the poem, "Aurora Leigh." Consider the meaning of what she wrote:

Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God;
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes,
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.


What does it mean to say that "earth's crammed with heaven?"

What common bushes have you seen afire with God in your life?

The reality is that God does sing to you in everyday life. If you want to move further toward a greater sense of intimacy with Him, it is important to begin to see and hear Him in the day-to-day details. Many see and hear God only through religious things, but if you want to learn to experience Him in a greater way it will be very helpful for you to begin to look for "his fingerprints" on the situations and circumstances of your daily routine.

God is too big to be contained by religious trappings. The psalmist said that, "The earth is the Lord's and everything in it." The world is His pulpit, from which He declares His love. We can see His face and hear His voice in a thousand places if we have eyes to see and ears to hear.

Your God is singing and dancing over you. He has prepared so much for you. "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him -- but God has revealed it to us by His Spirit" (1 Corinthians 2:9-10 NIV). God wants to show you that Spirit-filled living, the grace walk, is nothing less than a perpetual dance with Jesus Christ.

Pause and reflect on the most meaningful relationships you have had in your lifetime. Can you see ways that God communicated His love to you through those relationships? Think about the relationships you have now. In what ways is He communicating His love and acceptance through you toward the people He has placed into your life?

(This blog was taken from my book The Grace Walk Experience. Click this link for more information on the book: http://gracewalkresources.com/item.asp?cID=0&PID=586