Freedom in Worship

Today during church, I realized the freedom I enjoy in worship. It’s one of those things that I always knew, but it’s been different for me lately. From the time I could remember having a thought, I loved to dance. I loved to dance so much that I would twirl around the house all the time. By the time I was five years old, my parents put me in ballet class. I loved ballet. I loved other types of dance also, but ballet was something I loved to watch and do.

When I was about eight years old during one of my recitals something happened. My dance class was placed in a line so that all the kids could be seen. I was at the end. I was very excited and I danced with my whole heart that night. The trouble was I was going in the opposite direction of the rest of the class. This fact did not faze me because I continued to dance with gusto. The rest of the kids started to doubt that they were going in the right direction and started to follow me. My teacher who was in the wings was getting very hot under the collar. After it was over, the audience stood on their feet and gave me a standing ovation. The curtain closed and they were still clapping. My teacher told me to go ahead and take another bow. Being the confident little girl that I was, I did go back out on stage and took another bow. I loved it.

As I got older I became more self conscious about the way that I looked and the way that I moved. God has done something in me in the last couple of months for it doesn’t matter to me how I look or how I move. I started to have that same love to dance again, but this time during worship. At first I stood in the back where I figured no one saw me. But lately I’ve gone up and danced in the front. I close my eyes and I dance before my God. It doesn’t matter to me what I look like. I dance in celebration before God and I don’t notice anyone else there.

I believe it pleases the heart of God. The freedom I feel when I dance before Him is like when I was that little girl dancing in the wrong direction with her full heart and not caring that everyone else was moving in the opposite direction. Obedience to the Lord is where freedom has been for me. So Lord, continue to help me to explore freedom in all ways.

© Nadine Z.

Artwork © Patrick Broderick