Good Mourning

There were many times along my dance ministry journey that I wanted to give up. My despair was not because I had lost my love for the Lord, or because I did not enjoy dance ministry. Years of disappointments, hurts, and heartaches seemed to be too much to bear at times. I did not realize that there would be people who would see the Lord working in my life and want to latch on to me for selfish gain. I did not realize that cherished friends would become enemies. I was not ready for the rejection and criticism from the "saints."

I have danced through depression, sorrow, hurt, pain, anger, betrayal, hinderances, and the like. I have come to realize that obeying the Lord is never about how I feel. Many people would come to me after I danced and share how the Word in the dance ministered to them in a life-changing way. I shudder to think what would have happened had I not obeyed the Lord in those dark moments. He turned my mourning into dancing again!

Mourning in the Bible indicates the absence of dancing. We see this in Lamentations 5:15, "The joy of our heart has ceased; Our dance has turned into mourning." Dance is associated with rejoicing and celebration. In ministry, it is never about the dance. Our service is always about Him and our praise, worship, and obedience to the only Living God. We must always be ready, even when our flesh is weak. We must keep our spirits submitted the Lord at all costs. Our obedience will transform many lives and cause others to walk out of darkness into the Light.

Psalm 30:11 (NKJV)
You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness.

Isaiah 61:3 (NKJV)
To console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.”

Jeremiah 31:12-13 (NKJV)
Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, streaming to the goodness of the LORD— For wheat and new wine and oil, for the young of the flock and the herd; Their souls shall be like a well-watered garden, and they shall sorrow no more at all. “Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old, together; For I will turn their mourning to joy, will comfort them, and make them rejoice rather than sorrow."