Are you called? Whenever this question is asked, the assumption tends to be someone has been called to preach. And although this may be true in some cases, in other cases a person may have been called to do something else. This may or may not surprise you, but do you know we have all been called? That’s right! You have been called by God to fulfill your purpose on this Earth, which can also be known as your calling, whether it is preaching, teaching, ushering, singing, playing an instrument, or even dancing! Yes, God even calls people to the ministry of dance!
Since it may be rare that you hear someone say a person has been called to the ministry of dance, you may be wondering how to know if this is your calling. As with anything else, God may reveal in various ways, such as:
• a ‘knowing’in your spirit that can’t necessarily be expressed in words
• a dream or a vision
• a heart’s desire to spontaneously move to worship and praise music
• a small still voice
• a desire to lead people in movement during praise and worship
• a desire to constantly create choreography to song lyrics or scripture
• a prophetic message spoken to you by someone else
This is not an exhaustive list, and you may not necessarily identify with every single one, but these are just a few common signs that confirm a person is called to the ministry of dance.
The Bible, our roadmap for navigating life, is overflowing with examples that reveal how God called men and women to serve Him in times past. To name a very few among many, you may recall the life accounts of Moses, Joseph, Samuel, David, the disciples, Paul, and Jesus, our Savior, who answered the ultimate call to serve as the sacrifice for humanity.
There is even an example of a person who was called to serve in dance. Her name was Miriam, a prophetess, who was also the sister of Moses and Aaron. Exodus 15:20 says: “Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took the timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.” This was a direct response to God’s deliverance of the Hebrew children from bondage under Pharoah’s rule in the land of Egypt. They had just witnessed God miraculously use Moses as a vessel to rescue them from the pursuit of the Egyptian army by stretching out a rod to part the Red Sea. This allowed them to cross over on dry land before seeing the Egyptian army drowned in the sea with their horses and chariots. How awesome is our God! Hallelujah!
Although this is a short scripture, it reveals a few things about Miriam’s calling to dance: 1) she answered and obeyed the call she felt in her spirit to worship, praise and express gratitude to God with dancing; 2) she was positioned as a worship leader that spontaneously led all the women with timbrels and dancing during a time of praise and worship 3) she danced as a symbol of freedom and liberation which contagiously spread to all the women who followed with dances of joy, celebration, and freedom to God!
This is the first recorded instance of corporate worship with dance and instruments. What a powerful first-mention of dance in the Bible! As dancers called by God, this should remind us of how we spontaneously use dance, flags, banners, etc. during praise and worship today in response to God’s love, deliverance, protection, provision, and the endless list of all the things God is to us!
Are you called to dance?