A few days ago I read about a girl whose hair became a horribly tangled mess as a result of a deep depression that had lasted for quite a while. Once she had the energy to care what she looked like, she didn’t have the time, energy or perhaps the ability to get the tangles out. In her desperation for change, she went to a hairdresser to have her head shaved. Much to her surprise, rather than shave her head, the hairdresser spent thirteen hours over the next two days detangling her hair and styling it. It was an amazing transformation!
When I think of that scenario, one mental picture really resonates with me. The picture of that girl sitting still in that chair while the hairdresser works hour after hour to detangle her hair. So often I am very impatient. I want a quick fix. I don’t want to experience the pulls, and ouches and time involved in detangling. I want God to fix my life NOW. I want to see results on a daily basis. It’s hard for me to sit calmly with head bowed, waiting, trying desperately to trust. “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him” (Psalm 37:7)
Some days it’s easy to trust that God is in control. But sometimes, my journey feels too hard and too unfair. I get so caught up in “what isn’t” that I lose track of “what is”. My life shouldn’t be about what I can see. My life should be about what God is doing. “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them” (Romans 8:28)
I have seen the transformation God is able to do in people’s lives — how He is able to change them inside and out. With some people the changes are profound and visibly obvious. I think that it’s harder for me to recognize changes in myself. If I believe that God has “plans to prosper me and not to harm me, plans to give me hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11), then I need to recognize that He is changing me to make me who I need to be. “He has made everything beautiful in it’s time…yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end” (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
And so, today, I have a different picture of how I wait patiently for God to transform me. When life seems out of control, I want to remember that I am not the “de-tangler”, God is. I want to remember that He is working out His plan for me through all the lessons He teaches me in His Word, through all of life’s highs and lows and through all the people He puts in my path. “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.” (Ephesians 2:10)
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