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| Photo credit: Benutzer Darkone Nov. 2004 |
I have never experienced Satan fighting as hard to keep
my husband Richard and me from sharing our dance ministry as he did at our most
recent competition. A warning that Satan would vehemently oppose this venture
came long ago. As we began choreographing our new dance, I opened a sealed bottle
of water, only to find a dead fly floating on top! But Praise God that He overcame all of the
devil’s obstacles and worked all things together for good! (Romans 8:28)
We are old enough to be parents or even grandparents of
most of our fellow competitors, and our favorite style of dance is extremely
demanding physically because it involves overhead lifts and other feats of strength
and stamina packed into a four-minute dance. The average life span of a male
competitor in this division is about two to four years, and many have had to
retire had because of shoulder, back, or other injuries. So we know that each
day we can continue
in
our dance ministry is a gift from God (James
4:14), and He has blessed us to be able to perform and compete for more
than 23 years!
After we were saved and began using our dancing as a way
to bring Gospel music and Christian themes to largely secular audiences, we met
with opposition from judges and even well-meaning coaches who told us that our
placements would suffer as a result. We have also experienced physical setbacks
(2 Corinthians 12:7-10), problems creating distractions, and spiritual
oppression (2 Corinthians 10:3-4; Ephesians
6:11-18). Yet over and over God has proven to be faithful (1 Corinthians 1:9; Deuteronomy 7:9)
in allowing us to overcome these challenges and continue to spread His Word to
this unique mission field.
Our most recent competition, a highly prestigious and
well-attended event, started off with opposition to whether or not we were
eligible to compete, even though we had done so each year for the past five years!
Help came from surprising sources (but clearly pre-planned by God!), and we
were ultimately allowed to dance. However, this was not resolved until several
days before the event, adding to the usual pre-competition stress.
Several weeks before, Richard had injured his thumb, not
from overhead lifting but from leaning on his thigh as he rose from a kneeling
position. Often injuries happen in the least expected, even routine movements
simply because the dancer lets his guard down. He continued to have sudden shooting
pains, although he was able to get through rehearsals reasonably well.
Also several weeks before, I began having increasing pain
in my left shoulder, most likely overuse from supporting my weight on my outstretched
left arm in an overhead lift where my left hand is placed on Richard’s shoulder,
and other lifts involving twisting, turning, and hyperextending the shoulder.
But God used this injury to encourage me to start a new exercise program to
stretch and strengthen the shoulders, with good results as the competition drew
nearer.
One of the interventions to improve my shoulder was to
change office chairs, as my day job (and blogging!) requires much time at the
computer. But Satan was on the attack again – the base on the chair turned out
to be too small. As one of the wheels caught the edge of the carpet protector,
the chair tipped over – with me in it – hurling me onto the floor with the
chair on top of me, re-injuring my left shoulder, as well as scraping and
bruising my hip!
God used that to show me that His strength is made
perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians
12:9). Even when we are at less than our best, He is more than able to
see us through it, if He has called us to it! (2 Corinthians 9:8)
A few days later, I was enjoying my usual daily handful
of “medicinal dark chocolate” morsels, as I like to call it because of all the health benefits of the polyphenols and other
healing nutrients in dark chocolate. I would have swallowed what I was chewing
had I not felt a sudden warning to examine what was in my mouth. To my shock I
found a metal pin, about 1 inch long with two sharp ends, wrapped in a sharp
metal wire! Had I continued
chewing, this would at best have pierced my tongue or mouth, and at worst, I
could have swallowed it, causing a fatal esophageal tear. More praise to God for His protection from
seen and unseen threats!
We were competing in two events at this competition,
three nights apart, and just as we left the floor after competing the first
night, around midnight, Richard’s phone rang. His mother, who is 89 years old
and living in an assisted living facility, had been vomiting and felt weak and
light headed for several hours, but refused to go to the hospital. We spent
much of the long ride home and sleepless night in prayer. Just as we had
finally drifted into sleep, the phone rang at 6AM to let us know that an ambulance
was now taking her to the hospital.
Although she was coherent and had no pain, her heart rate
was around 20, which is incompatible with life! They rushed her to the cath lab
for an emergency pacemaker insertion. Also in the waiting room at the cath lab was
a young woman whose 59 year-old mother was having a procedure. An ominous
announcement came over the loudspeaker: “Code Blue to the Cath Lab.”
Two lives hung in the balance, and it was one of those
situations where only the Holy Spirit can intercede for us, as we don’t know
how to pray (Romans 8:26).
Richard’s mother is 89 and has lived a full life, recently professing Christ as
her Saviour. The other woman was only 59 and her salvation status was unknown. “It’s
in God’s hands – He’s in control,” Richard said to the woman’s daughter.
After 15 minutes that seemed like an eternity, the cardiologist
came in and escorted the woman’s daughter to another room, to deliver what
clearly was not good news. We don’t know the particulars, but we pray and trust
that God is working even in this situation to bring others closer to Him (Romans 5:3-5).
Meanwhile, Richard’s mom did fine with the temporary and
then a permanent pacemaker, and returned to her usual state of health with
strengthened faith. All three of us had reason to be thankful for His healing
mercies! And for His perfect timing – had she not fallen ill, her fatally low
heart rate might have gone unnoticed!
Finally it was the night before the big event. We went to
bed early, hoping to get a good night’s rest to make up for all the lost sleep
and crises of the preceding days. But just as Richard reached over to shut off
the light, he spotted a huge spider on the bedroom wall adjoining the cathedral
ceiling, high up and maddeningly beyond reach. He got a long broom and attacked
it, but it fell out of sight where we couldn’t see if it were dead. I was sure
it was waiting under the bed to pounce on us in the middle of the night. No
restful sleep in store tonight!
Richard put the broom away in the garage and came back
rubbing his thumb, which he had reinjured just by positioning the broom against
the garage wall! The next morning, it was no better. I suggested he take an
anti-inflammatory.
“I can’t,” he replied sadly. “I just threw up.”
So here we were on the day of the competition, each
fighting an injury, Richard struggling with a stomach virus and unable to keep
food down, and both of us still reeling from emotional turmoil and lack of
rest. I began to feel ill myself, drained of all energy, faint, and
light-headed. No matter – His grace is sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9); I can do all things through Christ Who
strengthens me (Philippians 4:13);
and with God, all things are possible (Matthew
19:26).
“Do you think God is trying to tell us not to do this?”
Richard asked.
“No, Satan doesn’t want us to do this, but He Who is in
me is greater than he who is in the world,” I answered (1 John 4:4). “Just get in the car, please.”
That night, as we began to dance to the packed house and
remote audience viewing by live streaming, I thanked God for using us to spread
His Word in this unique way. Loudly, boldly, the narrative at the beginning of
our dance proclaimed over the speakers:
“Transformed – darkness to light; earth to Heaven; death
to everlasting life.”
We danced well, to His glory, and the audience response
was very positive, praise God! A man who passed me in the hall afterwards said “You
are blessed and highly favored.”
A woman highly positioned in the dance community said, “I’m
a Christian and I appreciate your message. You just keep doing what you’re
doing, because this crowd really needs it. So many of them have hearts of
stone, but I look at their faces when you’re dancing and I can see their hearts
softening a little.”
We won’t know until we reach Glory what impact our
ministry may have, but we thank God for appointing us as His ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20) and for His
faithfulness in opening doors (1
Corinthians 16:9; 2 Corinthians 2:12; Colossians 4:3) and
leading us through them, holding us in the palm of His right hand!
So we’ll
just keep doing what we feel He has led us to do, Lord willing, until He comes
again!
1
Corinthians 15:58 Therefore,
my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work
of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
© 2012 Laurie Collett
