The day after I received the breast cancer diagnosis, I was driving through a beautiful park with my daughter, right after dropping off my husband at his work.
She was telling me that she had read people’s accounts of having cancer, and that some of them said they didn’t REALLY start LIVING LIFE until the cancer. Wow. That really impacted me.
Then, suddenly, I felt like God was asking me, right then and there, ‘If you really WERE facing death, what would you do differently? Would you be afraid of anything?’
I had already decided that I was not facing death. But I also had not thought that I may change the way I look at things if I really were facing death.
I have been timid for much of my life. Afraid to really put myself ‘out there’. Afraid of being noticed. Afraid of standing out. Afraid of being put ‘on the spot’. Afraid of speaking out. Afraid of voicing my opinion.
That day, I realized that is was time to step out in some areas I have been afraid of.
The big scary thing facing me at that moment was: worshiping extravagantly.
Worship Extravagantly.
That was a phrase that had been lit up brightly before me at a women’s conference I attended in August of this year.
What does that look like, to worship extravagantly?
Some thoughts:
To love God openly, without thought of what others may think about me.
To boldly do things that I believe God is calling me to do, without fear of what others may think.
To be like a child before Him, to joyfully and playfully enjoy being with Him, to without a hindrance of what others may say to me.
So I have to ask myself, do I feel free enough to stand out, to attract attention, to be bold and different?
I truly believe this would look very different for different individuals. Not all of us are called in the same way, to do the same things.
I find it very interesting, that for me, it appears that part of my battle plan against the cancer that has been found in my body is to step out and do some things I have been afraid of.
Has God been challenging you to step out of your comfort zone and face a fear?
Have you been feeling a prompting to worship extravagantly before God?
May you have the courage to step out to face your fears boldly, and to be free like King David, who danced around in his underwear before all of Israel, worshiping extravagantly.
Erica
photo credit: morguefile
