I have naturally curly hair. In my over 50 years of life I have never liked my curls. Most times I blow dry my hair straight and then feel beautiful…at least most of the time. We always want what we don’t have. I always think I would like my curls better if they were longer, looser, like this person’s, like that person’s. Comparison plays real tricks on our minds!
Have you spent time hoping things about yourself were different? Hoping they would somehow change but time tells you that it isn’t going to happen. What do you do?
It helps me to see beauty at all times. It reminds me God loves me and was intimately involved in forming me.
As I looked again in the mirror after washing my hair and not having time to give it a blow dry, I was reminded of Psalm 139:13-14 “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.”
When I had cancer and lost all my hair I could only dream of it coming back…of course I hoped it would come back straighter, but all I really wanted was hair on my head. It came back all right…curlier in texture. I could only laugh. God has a sense of humour! My hair is not a mistake. God made me that way. He wasn’t and isn’t crazy even though I think my curls are and have a mind of their own. They get unruly and very hard to tame. Oh wait? I can be that way too! And what does God do? He is patient with me. He gives me time. He shapes me gently. He plays with me and enjoys me still.
There are 3 things this scripture and my curly hair teaches me:
Accept...what I can not change and what most likely will not change and was never meant to change. Most importantly accept God’s design. If we don’t we are essentially saying what He created fearfully and wonderfully is a mistake and isn’t good. When we don’t accept ourself and put ourselves down we are insulting God.
Embrace…this is choosing love. Choosing intimacy. Accepting my curls and loving them…maybe liking…brings better results. It helps me to see beauty at all times. It reminds me God loves me and was intimately involved in forming me. He formed my inward parts and who I am on the inside will always be loved and beautiful to God. Everything I look at my curls, I have to look deeper. Deeper inside myself and deeper at God.
Play and celebrate…when we think of things being wonderfully made and God’s work being marvelous, I picture fun. I picture wonder. I picture a celebration. We are celebrated. God is celebrated. My curls are celebrated. So many people love my curls. I need to see things sometimes through the eyes of others. Curls are playful and so I must play with them and have them remind me to have fun with God. Join the psalmist as he declares “I will praise you” Enjoy Him and His blessings.
I thank God for His patience, His time, His shaping and His enjoyment in having a relationship with me. Of course this lesson for me is not really about curls but about learning to accept God’s creations and gifts, accepting ourselves as God does and not fighting with Him but living with enjoyment with all He has made because “Marvelous are his works”. May our souls know this today and always.
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