The release was much anticipated for several reasons; Sheard was only the second gospel artist signed to Elektra Records, and this was her debut for the label.

[3] In 2001, Clark-Sheard was faced with a life-threatening crisis when a blood vessel burst during a scheduled hernia surgery.

Despite citing hernia surgery, fans continue to speculate Clark-Sheard underwent a gastric bypass operation which led to complications of hernia and brain aneurysm since after the ordeal Sheard returned in 2001 having lost a significant amount of weight.

Though the release performed well on the charts and Clark-Sheard's vocals were in excellent form, the slick contemporary R&B production was not openly embraced by Sheard's core audience of traditional gospel music listeners.

The 2003 follow-up release The Heavens Are Telling returned to the formula of her hugely successful, well-received, and Grammy-nominated debut Finally Karen by offering half of the album as a collection of live tracks, and half as a collection of upbeat studio productions.