Editor’s Note by Martin Bobgan:
Few people know about how and where we met. Not at church, but at a ballet studio. I, Martin, was working out at the YMCA and also taking ballet lessons to develop my core and leg muscles. Deidre dreamed of making ballet her career. But when Deidre and I became interested in each other, she discovered that she was more interested in pursuing a college education with me than a career in ballet. Nevertheless, years after ballet slippers, leotards, and tights were tucked away in boxes, Deidre returned to ballet classes for exercise and began to see similarities between the training of a ballet dancer and learning to walk by faith and obedience. When she described these similarities, I suggested that she write a book to encourage women in their walk with the Lord.
Paul described aspects of the Christian life with those of boxing and running. In her book The Beauty of the Disciplined Life by Grace through Faith, Deidre followed his example, but with an extended analogy using ballet instead of boxing or running. The similarities of walking by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and becoming an accomplished artist, musician, actor, dancer, writer, athlete, or educator highlight indispensable attitudes and actions. Excellence requires dedication and humility as instruction, correction, change, and practice are inevitable necessities in the development of a dancer, musician, athlete, or writer, no matter how talented a person may be to begin with. Similarly, the Christian walk requires instruction, correction, change, and practice, as God is conforming each of us into the image of Christ.
The current article “Honoring and Thanking God” is excerpted and adapted from her chapter titled “Beginning Barre Work: Honoring and Thanking God.” We pray that it will bless and benefit our dear Lord’s children.
Honoring and Thanking God[1]
by Deidre Bobgan
Easels, stacked-up canvases, the smell of paint and turpentine—all evoke a pang of nostalgia to those who have studied art. Such ordinary equipment signifies creativity, beauty, and effort. Likewise, the wooden barres and mirrors lining a ballet studio quicken my senses. I automatically readjust my posture and for a moment return to those days of exhilaration and hard work.
The ballet class begins at the barre (pronounced “bar”), which is a horizontal wooden pole bracketed to the wall at about waist height. The barre is the place of disciplined instruction and rigorous training. Barre exercises are composed of both isolated and combined elements of the dance. Each exercise is precise. There is a correct way to execute each movement and numerous possibilities for missing the mark. The freedom and apparent ease of an accomplished dancer come from the discipline at the barre.
A beginner learns the basic movements at the barre. As she progresses, she develops the ability to perform each movement with greater and greater strength and agility. The tempo may be increased or decreased. The instructor will vary the positions, repetitions, and variations of combinations with other movements in intermediate and advanced classes. The barre is not simply a warm-up place; it is a place of such disciplined instruction that the student must be constantly alert. Barre work prepares the dancer for physical accuracy, mental acuity and aesthetic sensibility
We may enjoy watching the exquisite precision and grace of a ballerina but rarely think of the rigors of the barre and the countless repetitions of both simple and complex movements. Likewise, when we observe a graceful woman of God who bears the fruit of the Spirit, we forget the many times she has chosen God’s will over having her own way and how she has thereby developed godly habits of love. Both the ballerina and the Christian woman have developed through many repetitions, through many small steps. Ballet training reminds me of the absolute necessity of a disciplined life. However, for the Christian the discipline is an inner work as well as an outward obedience. Paul describes this discipline as being “spiritually minded” (Romans 8:6).
Day after day, month after month, year after year, the dancers repeat the same exercises. One is the plié (pronounced “plee-AY”). It is of primary importance because it is performed in conjunction with nearly every other step. Beginners learn to plié during their first class. Advanced students and professional dancers continue the plié with greater precision and in various combinations of steps. Pliés are executed in the five ballet positions with the legs turned outward from the hips. The demi (or half) plié is done by bending the knees over the toes while keeping the heels on the floor and holding the body erect. The plié is then completed by returning to the original position. It is the solid position from which and to which many steps are made. All jumps must begin and end in the plié.
I see the plié as being symbolic of every Christian thought and activity proceeding from the desire to honor God and ending in giving Him thanks. Paul recognized the importance of honoring God and giving thanks. Romans Chapter 1 includes very serious warnings concerning the neglect of honoring and thanking God:
Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools…. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. (Romans 1:21-25).
Honoring God as God and thanking Him are basic to the Christian walk. Whenever we choose our own way rather than God’s way, we actually set ourselves up as little gods to serve “the creature [ourselves] rather than the Creator.” However brief this may be, however subtle and unnoticed, even temporary self- enthroned godhood is dangerous to our spiritual well-being. Furthermore, when we fail to thank God, we may fail to remember that all good comes from Him.
The world does not honor God or thank Him. The world is involved in futile speculation and deception. The pull of the world, the pull of the flesh, and the pull of the devil can drag us down if we are not careful, alert, and diligent in honoring God and being grateful to Him.
Honoring God as God
When we acknowledge God as God and submit our lives to Him in every detail, we are honoring Him as God. When we believe His Word and trust Him in all circumstances, we are honoring Him as God. When we obey Him, we are honoring Him as God. We hold Him in reverence with such awe that we fear displeasing Him. This is not only because we may fear the consequences, but also because God is too wonderful and awesome to disobey. The wisdom of Proverbs calls this “the fear of the Lord,” and says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7).
Honoring God sounds well and good when He appears to be answering our prayers in the way we want Him to and when His will seems to coincide with our own. But how about the times when He works within our circumstances in such a way that things do not seem to be going our way? Remember Moses’ sister Miriam? The time came in the wilderness when things were certainly not going her way. Wasn’t she the one who had helped her mother carefully place baby Moses in his basket among the reeds? Wasn’t she the one who hid herself and waited to see the fate of her baby brother? Wasn’t she the one who listened as the Pharaoh’s daughter decided to adopt Moses? Wasn’t she the one God used to arrange for Moses to be nursed and raised by his own natural mother at the household expense of the Pharaoh? Why then didn’t she have a share in the power?
Evidently Miriam was not content with the great privilege of serving God as a prophetess and worship leader. She wasn’t satisfied with what God had chosen for her, and she began to honor herself more than God. Her own self-will got in the way of following the will of God. She and her brother Aaron began to murmur about Moses. They talked behind his back and said, “Hath the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us?” (Numbers 12:2). In pride and self-will Miriam and Aaron grasped for position, but the Bible says of Moses, “Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3).
The Lord God, who hears the secret intents of the heart, rebuked Miriam and Aaron. When the cloud of His presence lifted, Miriam was leprous. In shock and grief Aaron knew that Miriam bore the punishment for his rebellion as well as for her own. He begged Moses to seek God on her account. “And Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee” (Numbers 12:13). Miriam bore her shame for seven days and then the Lord healed her. She had to learn the hard way that God is God—that He is the One who is in charge. He has the power and He has the responsibility. She also learned something about His love for her through His forgiveness and restoration. She turned from her own self-will to honor God as God in her life.
We often think of fear and trust as being contradictory terms. And indeed they are in most instances. However, when we fear God in a truly biblical sense, we also trust Him. Miriam neither feared nor trusted God when she chose to rebel against Him. However, when she began to honor Him as God, she once again feared and trusted Him. The only person we can both fear and trust is the One who loves us enough to keep us on the right path. We honor God by fearing and trusting Him.
Honoring God involves acknowledging Him in all that we do:
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. (Proverbs 3:5, 6).
I have been jolted by that verse just when I am doing something that contradicts the very idea of acknowledging God. When I step on the gas pedal to zip around a poky driver to show him a thing or two, I am not acknowledging God. I must admit that I am still a student who needs to learn to honor God in all circumstances and in all places. I need to acknowledge Him while I am driving as well as when I am reading the Bible.
When we were children, we used to see how long we could hold our breath. Then in the ballet class we tried to see how long we could balance in various difficult positions. Have you ever checked to see how long you have been able to maintain the position of acknowledging God in all you are doing? That is indeed a habit to work on! Just as a dancer needs to continue to practice her pliés, even when she has become a prima ballerina, every Christian woman will continue to practice honoring God in all she does. She will acknowledge Him in all her ways.
Gratitude
One exercise that should naturally follow the marvelous gift of life and salvation from sin and death is that of thanksgiving. Thankfulness should be our natural response to God. However, gratitude must be practiced to become a habitual state of mind. When we turn our eyes away from the goodness of God, we can easily fall into a habitual state of ingratitude. Miriam had allowed herself to complain. She had stopped thanking and praising God when she and Aaron joined in their rebellion. Ungratefulness is often the state of mind just before a person rebels against God and indulges in sin. Unless we choose to center our thoughts on His goodness to us, we put ourselves on a path of dissatisfaction and destruction.
After God delivered the Israelites from the Egyptians through His dramatic intervention, the Israelites were full of praise and adoration. However, a few days later they were thirsty and began to complain bitterly against Moses and against God. Not only had they forgotten God’s tremendous miracle of salvation, but they whined that they had been better off in Egypt! The Israelites were like one giant yo-yo. When circumstances were great they thanked God, but when the testing came they complained with ungrateful hearts. They had not developed a grateful attitude.
Gratitude may not come easily as a habit of mind. Too often a surge of thankfulness comes only in response to external happenings. Rather than simply being grateful when some terrific event occurs or some extravagant gift has been given, a woman of grace learns to cultivate gratitude as a manner of thinking, as an attitude of the heart. This exercise, therefore, may be practiced regardless of circumstances.
Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 5:20).
Gratitude is the perfect condition of the heart for every moment of the day; it is a choice rather than simply a feeling that comes and goes. At the end of a particular Sunday evening service our pastor asked us to come forward and to just praise and thank God for His goodness to us. I was tired and did not feel like praising. I did not feel grateful. However, I went forward and explained to God that even though I did not feel grateful I did want to thank Him. As I began to thank Him silently in my heart by choice, I began to feel thankful. The choice to thank God released the feeling of gratitude; it began to trickle and then proceeded to flow throughout my entire being. I worshiped the Lord not because I felt like it but because I chose to obey Him. Worshipful feelings followed, but they are not essential for pleasing God.
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations. (Psalm 100:4, 5).
Beginning the day with praise is God’s way for us.
It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night…. For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands (Psalm 92:1, 2, 4).
God knows how much we need to exercise gratitude, not for His sake but for ours. Gratitude is so very important to our spiritual well-being that the apostle Paul lists ungratefulness as one of the characteristics of people who eventually enter into spiritual blindness, idolatry, impurity, and the vilest of passions and sin (Romans 1:21).
On the other hand, the benefits of gratitude far exceed what we might expect. For example, a thankful heart leads to love, joy peace, and other fruit of the Spirit. Gratitude moves in the opposite direction from self-pity, dissatisfaction, jealousy, and depression, because the gaze is fixed upon God and His goodness rather than upon the circumstances around us.
A ballet dancer would be foolish if she thought she could perfect and retain a particular step after only practicing it a short time. On the other hand, Christians often think that there should be immediate success in changing behavior and developing godly habits. But we do not change easily, even with the enabling of the Lord. That is why we must continually practice honoring God and thanking Him.
Honoring and thanking God is quite an assignment if it is to be practiced daily. If you choose to be diligent in this first exercise “at the barre,” you will find that your Teacher will begin to correct you so that you will become more and more adept at honoring and thanking God. The Holy Spirit is faithful to discipline us as we choose to trust and obey. He will gently but firmly press the knee so that it is directly over the foot during the plié; that is, He will gently but firmly help us to honor and thank the Father with consistency.
The Challenge
I find it easy to agree with what the Bible says about honoring and thanking God. The challenge is to do it. I am still learning as the Holy Spirit faithfully enables me to recognize (admit, confess) when I am being self-centered and/or complaining instead of honoring and thanking God. Then, as soon as I see my sinful attitude or behavior, I can turn to 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” God not only forgives the moment; He cleanses us all the way. We can begin once again to honor and thank God.
I encourage you to honor God in your attitudes, thoughts, words, and actions. Ask the Holy Spirit to nudge you when you are not honoring Him as you have purposed in your heart. Look to Him to enable you to turn again to honor Him. Remember to thank Him even when life seems bleak. He renews and restores us as we remember all He has done to give us new life and all He is accomplishing behind the scenes to prepare us for a glorious eternity with Him.
[1] Deidre Bobgan. The Beauty of the Disciplined Life by Grace through Faith. Santa Barbara: EastGate Publishers, 2017, pp. 15-24