“Sissy did it again.” We all knew what that meant. My cousin loved to cut hair. It didn’t matter that she was only three years old or that her mother hid every pair of Child cutting his own hair with scissorsscissors in the house, she’d find them, and begin snipping away at those beautiful silky locks and baby curls. Usually, her younger brothers were the lucky recipients of her developing talents. Thank heavens my Aunt was able to laugh about it (or at least now she can).

I bet we’ve all received a bad haircut at one point or another. We look in the mirror and try not to panic. At the time it seems disastrous. What about the date we have that night or the big presentation the following morning? Can we cover it with a hat? A wig?

My husband wore a hat for a month after one of those cuts. He knew it was going poorly when the hairdresser began to cry. The manager rushed over and her eyes grew big. She smiled at my husband and told him not to worry, but nothing could be done about the horizontal line carved into his hair.

Thankfully, over time (albeit slowly) our hair grows out.

In 2 Samuel 10, David’s mighty men discovered the humiliation and embarrassment of a bad haircut. David had sent an envoy to the new Ammonite king because the Ammonite king’s father had passed away. Instead of being grateful, the new king grew suspicious and captured the envoy, shearing off half of their beards and cutting off their clothes above their waist exposing them. Yikes!  When word got back to David, he told his mighty men to stay in Jericho until their beards grew out. That way they could return with honor.

The same can go for our hurts and wounds. Given time they will heal. We too can rise from the ashes and dust ourselves off. Our hair will grow out with patience, and we will have learned a valuable lesson. Jentezen Franklin author of the book, Love Like You’ve Never Been Hurt states that 41% of birds in New Zealand can’t fly because they don’t have any natural predators (snakes, fox, wolves, etc.). Franklin states, “It takes opposition to develop you.” The same goes for butterflies. A caterpillar has to struggle to emerge from the constriction of its cocoon. If not, its wings won’t develop properly and it won’t be able to fly. Sometimes, it takes awful things done to you to strengthen the best in you.

Don’t allow the hurts of your past keep you from the possibilities of your future. Allow time to restore your perspective.

Once your hair grows out, you’ll be even more beautiful.

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