Cut It! - How Cutting My Hair Liberated Me!
“If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.”
Matthew 5:29 NKJV
“What good is an idol carved by man,
or a cast image that deceives you?
How foolish to trust in your own creation—
a god that can’t even talk!”
Habakkuk 2:18 NLT
Little children, keep yourselves from idols.
1 John 4:21
I had to pull a “Robert Morris” and provide you some scriptures prior to beginning my blog post just to give context to what I am about to share.
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After weeks of consideration, I cut my hair.
To many, this isn’t a big deal. It is just hair. It will grow back. But to me, it was removing a subtle, but demanding idol from my life. If you are wondering, “how can hair be an idol,” allow me to explain.
About four years ago, I was at a conference, where other like-minded believers and I were worshipping God. When I tell you that this worship was unlike anything I have ever experienced. It was literally Hillsong Young and Free before the youngins broke from Hillsong Worship. The level of euphoria I was experiencing was unlike anything I had ever felt. The worship must have been too lit because soon enough the Holy Spirit came thru and shut the party down. Before we knew it, we were all wrecked, pinned to the floor, basically paralyzed. It was like the Holy Spirit was visiting everyone personally.
I soon found out how personally a friend’s visitation got.
After worship and breaking bread, we had downtime, where everyone just started chatting with one another. A good friend and I were talking about all that took place. She said she had something to share, but she was reluctant to because she didn’t know if she should share. She said that during worship, she had a vision about me. She saw me with longggggg hair down my back. I laughed because I hadn’t had long hair since sophomore year of college. She then proceeded to tell me that she saw me passing flowers to people as I walked down a path. As I was doing that, God took my hand and placed it in the hands of a man.
After hearing all of this, my eye widened. Forget the fact that I was helping people in life. That’s a given for every Believer. I was so fixated on that fact that I was going to get married Y’all. I was getting an “EM OH GEE. Come on, somebody!”
Say “Amen”, or you are not invited to my wedding.
I kid. At that time, I was struggling to get over a brother. Someone talk about emotional purity. The last thing I needed to hear was I was getting married to anyone, anytime soon. I toss the vision behind me and kept it moving. When it comes to pass, we can say “it is finished.”
Fast forwarded three years later. I found myself experiencing tremendous growth in my hair. Shawty was swinging. It was down my back. It was “Are you wearing weave? Is that your real hair?” long. I didn’t do anything to cause it to increase to this length.
Then suddenly, I remembered the vision.
“Your mane was long and your Man was tall.”
Okay, she didn’t say it like that, but that is how my brain comprehended it.
My husband is coming.
*ques harp*
It was time to get my bridesmaids list in order. Dust off my pinterest account. I had to get my stuff together, don’t want to scare him away with my hot mess of a life.
And this was when I realized I was in the flesh.
Why was I was confident I was about to enter into courtship, when the Lord Himself did not confirm it? Why was assurance found in the length of my hair and not in Him? If something is truly the Lord’s will, we do not have the power to make it come faster. It will work according to His time. Now, do we have the ability to delay the promises of God or to expedite it? Everything has its perfect season. And this wasn’t it.
Promise me, O women of Jerusalem,
by the gazelles and wild deer,
not to awaken love until the time is right
Songs of Solomon 2:7 NLT
The word says we should not be anxious for anything, but here I was with adrenaline in my veins, that would have me have wide-eyed like a deer in headlights every time I met a new guy.
Relax. It’s not him.
All I wanted to do was enjoy my singleness in peace. I just wanted to treat myself without having to worry about being financially responsible. I wanted to eat popeyes without having to discipline myself to cooking meals. I didn’t want to hear “there is rice at home.” These hands were not manicured to diced pepper and sliced onion. I wanted to keep having spontaneous moves with my friends. A lot of magic (memories for my Saints) happens when single people get together.
Long story short: I was enjoying the perks of being single and I wasn’t ready to stop being “selfish.” Abeg, I can’t come and kill myself at this young tender age.
In the words of William Shakespeare, “off with his head.” In this case, my hair.
Cut it!
And man, am I free!?
I don’t have the power to ruin God’s plan for my love life, whether I am bald or rocking 20 inches Malaysian. With that said, bae better up them oculars and see me in the spirit and not the flesh.
Until the next life lesson, see you later!