Easter Sunday has come and gone. Several folks on my team were in charge of children’s activities, bible study, or preaching a sermon…I was in charge of the bible study. For my study I asked folks to put their bible away…WHAT??? Yep. I’m pro- reading the bible and believe it has its place…but I’ve come to realize sometimes even reading the bible can get in the way of a relationship with Christ. Huh? It’s like reading a love letter from a lover when your LOVE is right there next to you…and you refuse to talk to them or listen to them as they desire to speak sweet nothings to you about who you are IN them. Not much of a relationship if you ask me. So in essence…I was reading the bible and thinking THAT was my time with God. I was learning about God but I wasn’t exactly EXPERIENCING God in a life-giving way. In fact a lot of areas in my life and soul were just plain DEAD. Quite a realization considering it was Easter Sunday…where Christ died so we could LIVE. It felt a lot like leaving him up on the cross or stuck in the tomb. He’s alive so I should be alive.
So per a teammate’s suggestion I wrote down as many areas in my life that I felt Dead in…and I decided to give the list to Jesus and see what He wanted to do with it. There is a lot of room for healing…and in some situations I believe God is calling me to ACT. A lot of times in life I feel like I’m on the outside looking in. There are some social situations that just overwhelm me. One area I always feel like I hold back in is dancing of all things…to loosely, freely dance even though I look absolutely ridiculous. So while in Africa… yep, you guessed it. Church looks a lot freer, looser, and DIFFERENT than American churches. People sing with their guts and dance with their hips…I didn’t know Americans even HAD hips in church…it may be safe to kneel, raise your hands, or close your eyes in reverent worship…but…DANCE??? I commented to a teammate while we were dancing/worshiping…I feel like I’m clubbing…it felt that unnatural, absurd, insane to move our hips/body to the lively worship beat….but you know what…it felt GOOD…it was the lover calling his love to dance…so freeing!
