His Lead
Though both are gone now, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers remain one of the most famous dance teams in all of motion picture history. They made ten films together between 1933 – 1949, including the classic “Swing Time”.
Fred was a perfectionist at his craft, and worked his partners hard. Every dance required hours upon hours of practice, and multiple film takes. At the conclusion of one dance sequence, Ginger’s feet bled through her shoes.
In ballroom dancing, one partner leads, and the other follows. The joke was always that Ginger had to do the same steps as Fred – only backwards and in high heels. Still, the two were so well matched, the end result appeared effortless.
The comparison is meant to be lighthearted. But Jesus, too, asks that we follow His lead. At times that can be painful. However, the result is worth it.
“If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also” (John 12: 26).
Lord Jesus, You make Your home among the homeless. You minister to the destitute. You comfort the grieving. You reach out to the lonely. You seek out the rejected and abandoned.
We desire to follow wherever You would lead, Lord.
Remove pride from our hearts, that we should consider nothing beneath us that would accomplish Your will. Remove fear from our hearts, that we may go wherever Your work should take us. And fill us instead with love, that those who know us may see You.
Amen
READERS CAN FIND MY VIEWS ON ABUSE AND ABUSE-RELATED ISSUES AT ANNA WALDHERR A Voice Reclaimed, Surviving Child Abuse http://www.avoicereclaimed.com
A Lawyer's Prayers 
Difficult to do, since most of them already believe in God. Nor does God promise much, when it comes to obeisance to Mammon, the thing that our society demands of those who don’t want to live under the viaducts.
Thank you for your comment. Following in the footsteps of Christ can require great sacrifice from us, as you say. Holocaust survivor, Corrie ten Boom, speaks movingly of this. Following Christ does not guarantee financial (or for that matter political) success. Whatever our economic status, we are to trust God with our lives. “But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?” (1 John 3: 17). Blessings, A.
Ten Boom is a blessed character. She operated a safe house in Amsterdam during the war and survived arrest and prison after a spy turned her in. The people she was hiding in her secret room escaped; most of them also survived the war.