What happens when we step out in our own timing and don’t wait on God? Sometimes a bad haircut, sometimes worse.
The other night, our youngest was taking a bath and announced his hair was too long so he needed a haircut. Never mind that he’d gotten a haircut three weeks ago. We also live in a rural area, so going to town for a haircut is at least a half day affair on the weekend. With this time commitment in mind, I said we’d get the haircut in a few weeks. So, I thought the matter was settled because he didn’t mention it again while getting ready for bed.
Cue the dramatic music and around 9:30 pm, my little one pops out of his room stating he needed to use the bathroom. I’m hopping out of bed (yes, I’m normally in bed at 9:30 pm) so proud of him for getting up to use the bathroom after I thought he was asleep. One look at his hair as he raced to the bathroom told a different story. Sleep was obviously not on his agenda that night, but a haircut was. Instead, as a right of passage that every one of my children has gone through, there stood before me was my youngest child with a unique, self-created haircut with no cosmetology school required.
I asked him if he cut his hair. He shook his head no, denying the evidence so plainly on display. I inquired again if he had cut his hair. Then came the confession, “Yes, mom, I’m sorry, but it needed to be cut.”
Instead of waiting for a professional haircut and trusting me to make an appointment when I told him I would, he took matters into his own hands. Thus began my thought process on how this related to my relationship with God.
As I took a scissors to my son’s hair doing my best to fix the problem at hand, also without any cosmetology training, and praising God that class picture day was the week before, I realized how many times I hadn’t trusted God to create my haircut appointment, figuratively speaking.
When I lose faith and trust in my Creator that He truly has the best waiting for me on the other side of the valleys in my life, I take matters into my own hands and my own timing which is when things really go haywire. Instead of trust, I assume the worst and believe that God has left me on my own to figure it out. In Jeremiah 29:11, the promise of hope in the valleys of life couldn’t be more apparent, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” (NIV)
I’ve clung to this verse many times when the valleys of my life seem endless and to outsiders there appears to be little hope of victory. However, we can stand firm in this promise of God that no matter how tough times are and how low the valleys seem between the victorious mountain peaks, God has us in His hand and has amazing plans for us, if we wait on His timing or He even extends unlimited grace when we don’t wait on His timing.
Now, if I could just figure out how to make my son’s hair grow faster.
This is so well written! I was giggling the whole way through! I also learned the phrase “God’s will, God’s timing!” I have recently had to add, “…and don’t get cocky!” Yes, that, too, was ‘fun’ to learn! 🙂 Thanks for the article!