A Dancer's Secret: Keeping a Focal Point
I was never a dancer. I played every sport a kid could play (I even played on a boy’s baseball team one year), but I never seemed to have the grace needed for dance. One thing that always befuddled me was how well-trained dancers could spin around so quickly without getting dizzy. I would spin around once and feel ready to puke.
Several years ago I took a Latin dance class, and I learned the secret to mastering spins was a technique called “spotting.” Any dancer would recognize the term, but for those who don’t, spotting entails picking a stationary focal point (a clock, a hook, a painting, etc) and turning your body while your eyes stay focused on your spot, therefore immobilizing the head. When your body has turned as far as it can, the head quickly spins around and immediately back to its focal point, while the body then follows. Because your eyes are on the focal point the entire time, your body is able to do something that normally causes dizziness. A simple, yet effective technique.
God as Our Focal Point
This technique when applied to our walks, works much the same way. As I read through Nehemiah, I was surprised how many times the text mentions God as their focal point. The book of Nehemiah documents the Israelites rebuilding Jerusalem including a burned down, destroyed wall that protected the city. If that wasn’t daunting enough (hello manual labor!), they were met with constant doubt and ridicule from their enemies. Despite it all, they believed “the God of heaven [would] give [them] success” (Neh 2:20).
At the beginning of chapter four when Saballat, an opponent of Nehemiah, taunts the Jews for rebuilding the wall, Nehemiah responds by praying to God for relief, and then he and the builders “work with all their heart” (4:6). Just two verses down the same thing happens: Saballat threatens to attack Jerusalem, and the Jewish people respond by praying to God then posting a guard (4:9). In both situations, as well as throughout the book of Nehemiah, we see how during a situation that could feel like uncontrollable spinning, they simplified the task by keeping their eyes on the only reliable focal point (God!) and coupling their faith with action.
Throughout this life, we will undoubtedly have trouble and maybe even feel like things are spinning out of control. Or we are facing a seemingly insurmountable task. An impossible situation. However, if we choose the only trustworthy focal point, He will protect us from falling over.
Reflection:
What distractions become your focal point in life? Your career? Relationships? Busyness? Pursuit of Happiness?
What practical way can you remind yourself to stop and refocus on the Lord? Setting an alarm for prayer time?
What “spin” makes you dizzy? What makes you feel out of control and helpless? Recognize it, and ask the Lord to help you in that particular situation.
More Verses to Meditate On:
Psalm 16:8
I have set the Lord always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
Psalm 141:8
But my eyes are toward you, O GOD, my Lord; in you I seek refuge; leave me not defenseless!
Lamentations 3: 21-24
21 Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope
22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”
Jude 1:24 (NET)
24 Now to the one who is able to keep you from falling, and to cause you to stand, rejoicing, without blemish before his glorious presence, 25 to the only God our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time, and now, and for all eternity. Amen.
