YOUR HAIR WILL GROW AGAIN
Imagine forking over $16,420 for a haircut. That’s exactly what Beverly Lateo of Pisa, Italy did on October 29, 2007, officially the most expensive haircut in recorded history. Hopefully, it ended her bad-hair days for a while, and that her hair grew back very slowly. (https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/most-expensive-haircut/)
Here’s an immutable truth about haircuts: Your hair will grow back. In the book of Judges, Samson learned this lesson the hard way. From birth, God placed him under a lifetime vow, part of which involved never cutting his hair. Then he met a little honey named Delilah, and conveniently forgot his vow. Samson revealed to her the secret of God’s superhuman strength in his uncut hair. She shaved his head, the Philistines captured him, gouged his eyes out, and put him to forced labor in prison (16:20). But that wasn’t the end. Verse 22 delivers a simple but powerful postscript. “The hair on his head began to grown again.”
No kidding. That’s what hair does. And that’s my point. No matter what you’re going through, your “hair will grow again,” The hair-growing-again metaphor represents a beautiful truth: God heals our painful emotions. Slowly, steadily, day-by-day, your “hair grows back”—emotionally as well as physically. An ugly breakup; a financial setback; the loss of a loved one. I can testify to this truth. Over the past few months, I’ve been healing from Linda’s death. My “hair is growing again.” I sense emotional hair-growth occurring I couldn’t have imagined ten months ago.
Picture those cold dark days as Samson labored in a Philistine prison, grinding grain. Perhaps he realized God was healing and preparing him for something greater. His hair was growing. In the end, Samson’s faith returned and God vindicated him.
Just as it takes time for hair to grow, our emotions don’t instantly heal. No matter what you’re facing, emotional recovery is painfully slow. It’s a process of gradual growth, with lots of bad-hair days. Times we want to wallow in painful memories, attempting to find relief from anguish. But in the midst of emotional trauma, God has planted this beautiful seed: “Your hair will grow again.” You begin having days when the future looks promising; days when you smile, thinking of the past; days when someone asks, “How are you?” and you truthfully say, “I’m doing well.” If you’re suffering, give yourself time to heal. It will happen. Your hair will grow again.
Principle: Just as hair grows back, our wounded emotions will heal.
Ponder:
When have you experienced your “hair growing back” emotionally?
When you face emotional trauma, how can you open yourself up to experience God’s healing in a greater way?
Pursue: For a deeper dive, study Judges 16.
Prayer: Loving Father, thank you for causing my “hair to grow back” emotionally. Give me the patience I need to continue trusting you in the midst of grief.
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