22 - A vision from God: the hitchhiking dance instructor!
It was sometime later, while still attending the Lake Worth Community College, that I decided to take some dance lessons and entered a contract for dance lessons with the Arthur Murray Studio in West Palm Beach, Florida. I had never danced before but discovered at Arthur Murray that I enjoyed dancing. I still do although these days my focus is on line dancing. I have been teaching line dancing for several years and presently teach a line dance group in Crawfordville, Florida.
Well, lets get back to the story of the hitchhiking dance instructor who was my instructor at the Arthur Murray Studio in West Palm Beach. I had been attending the Arthur Murray lessons
for two or three months and, with one or two exceptions, was being instructed by a beautiful blonde instructor who, I would guess, to be about 30 years old. I was 25 at the time.
It was in the middle of a waltz with her on the dance floor when God unexpectedly intervened. It came in the form of what, for lack of a better description, I would call a vision that appeared before me and was little different from viewing a “short video clip”. The video clip reflected a moment in her life, standing beside the road and hitchhiking to California. I would guess she was, at that time of the video, about 17 years old; in every way a beautiful young person. I saw her personality, the internal thoughts that she had, and all that she was at that time. She was as beautiful inside as she was outside; full of excitement, vivacious, happy, and fun.
We were still dancing as God showed this to me. Without stopping our waltz and without even thinking about it, I looked at her and said: “You hitchhiked to California when you were younger didn’t you?” She looked at me and said: “How did you know that?” And I responded: “I saw you.” And then I said something else without really thinking about it; I said: “You used to be a really nice girl.”
Neither she nor I said anything more however she ended the lesson shortly thereafter and left the room. I do not understand the underlying reasons for this occurrence however clearly God had a purpose in revealing this to me and He knew I would communicate it to her. In retrospect I am reminded of a scripture (Isaiah 55:11) in which God says: “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” I believe that God was communicating something of importance to her through me and it clearly made an impression on her.
Moving on, my graduation date from the Lake Worth Community College was approaching and my plans were to enroll at the University of Florida to continue my education to become an electrical engineer. Finances were a concern and that’s the subject of the next page: “God’s providence: the scholarship”.
Notes
What do I make of the vision in which God showed me a past moment in the life of the dance instructor?
That God used a vision in order for me to communicate something of importance to the dance instructor, it had an immediate effect and reaction from her.
That God can and does communicate directly with us through others when He so chooses; no different than the time that God used the GI in Viet Nam to communicate with me in response to my prayer, no different than the time that God used the Pastor in Kansas City stepping to the mike to communicate with me that He would save my parents.
This is all to say that God may speak to us verbally through other people, may speak to us directly through dreams as previously noted in this web site, may speak to us through circumstance and events to demonstrate his providence as noted in the story “17 – Everything is in good hands”, and may speak to us in visions as described here.
Some scriptural references
Acts 9:10-12 (KJV) “And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias, And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord. And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth, And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight.”
Isaiah 55:11 (KJV) So shall my word be that goeth forth our of my mouth: it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.