A Hair-Raising Experience

 “And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” Matthew 10:30-31 (NIV)

 

I knew when I was a little girl that I was not blessed with a full head of hair like my sisters. For one thing, it was obvious when I looked in a mirror. But until I was about 10 years old, I thought it was somehow the fault of my mother’s attempt to tame the hair I did have.

 

 I had even considered that when God was creating me, He called out “Hair!” but one of the angels thought He said “Nair!” and dumped a bottle of the instant hair remover in my genes. And then I saw some pictures of me at about 2 years of age. “How in the world could you cut my hair like that?” I demanded of my mother. “I look weird.” She immediately shook her head. “It wasn’t me. You didn’t have any hair until you were five years old.”

 

Perhaps that will help you to understand why, at first, I was not overly impressed with Matthew 10:30-31 about God knowing how many hairs I have on my head. I remember thinking “How big a deal is that if you have hair like me?” But further inspection reveals so much more about what Jesus meant.

 

On average, there are over 100,000 strands of hair on a young adult. Each individual hair lasts for two to six years before it falls out and another begins to grow and take its place. There is no way I could figure out a system to correctly count the number of hairs on my head – or anyone else’s for that matter.

 

What a tedious, time-consuming job that would be! But is that all Jesus was saying? That He was divinely capable of doing a head – err – hair count? Not at all.  I believe that Jesus is using a visual picture to show us just how much we are loved.  

 

First, He is emphasizing to us that He has knowledge of all things, no matter how insignificant they may seem to the world around us. Secondly, He is subtly reminding us that He is our Creator and knows exactly how we are made – from our heads to our hearts to our toes – because He made us!

 

Do you get it? If He cares enough to want to know everything about us, it is because He is crazy mad in love with you and you and you and me! And for that very reason, He will watch over us, His priceless creation, each and every day.

 

I am never going to have hair like Jennifer Aniston but I am always going to have a Father who values every hair on my head because of His great love for me.  

 

 

Father, thank you for reminding me that you know everything about me, your creation and that you love me more than I can ever imagine. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

 

R.A.P. it up . . .

 

 

Reflect

• Have you ever felt like you weren’t worth very much to the Lord?

 

• What person or situation caused you to feel that way?

 

Apply

• Write Matthew 10:30-31 on a note card and place it with your combs and brushes as a reminder of God’s love for you.

 

• Each time you brush your hair, silently thank the Lord for loving you enough to watch over each detail of your life.

 

Power

• Matthew 10:30-31 (NIV) “And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”

 

• Luke 12:7 (NIV) “Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”

 

• Psalm 121:3 (NIV) “He will not let your foot slip – he who watches over you will not slumber…”