Here it is: Haircuts don’t last forever.

It’s true. No matter how bad it made you look, or how horrible of a job the stylist did or how much it cost you. It may feel like it will be that way for all eternity when you look in the mirror, but it won’t. If you have a bad haircut right now, even though it’s growth isn’t perceptible to the naked eye, your hair is growing slowly right now and soon it will be back to where it was.

Doesn’t that make you feel better?

Now, before you delete my feed from your RSS reader or stop listening to my podcast because you think I’m crazy let me show you, from God’s Word, why you should be encouraged by this.

Judges 16:22 But before long, Samson’s hair began to grow back.

I think this might be one of the most beautiful and redemptive verses in the Bible.

There is no doubt that Samson got the most expensive haircut in history. It cost him his job, his freedom, and his strength. He had his eyes gouged out, was thrown into a prison where he worked as a slave for the rest of his life and never got to see his family again. All for one lousy buzz cut. He was one of the most gifted and talented men who ever lived, but he would die in disgrace and shame. He freely gave away what no one could have ever taken from him.

But the instant the shears had left his head, and with it the strength from his muscles, and the shackles were being placed on his wrists, the tiny follicles began their slow journey back to their former glory. And as they did they sang an unheard song of God’s forgiveness and willingness to forgive. He probably couldn’t tell it was happening, as he ground grain while wrapped up in bronze chains in the Philistine prison, but grace and restoration were at work in his scalp.

He would never get his eyes back, and he would die a prisoner; but he would die with hair. And before that happened he would be used by God in a greater way than he ever had in his entire life.

Haircuts don’t last forever.

Psalm 30:5 For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime! Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.

Jesus had just had a super gnarly clash with his enemies who were constantly following him around and nitpicking his every move. They never did anything to help people but they had a lot to say about how he was doing it all wrong. That is usually how it goes. Those who do the least complain the most. And it gets draining after a while.

So he decided to get out of town for a little bit. He left Galilee, where he was well known, and crossed the border into Gentile territory. There is no way the messiah-police would be willing to follow him there…they would for sure get cooties from all the wicked sinners if they did. So he and his disciples would be able to get some rest and recharge their batteries.

That was the plan. But it didn’t turn out that way. He didn’t blend in very well. The text says, “he couldn’t keep his presence a secret.” Even though he was trying to keep a low profile he ended up attracting a bunch of attention when he healed a woman’s daughter after being there for a short time. He couldn’t help himself. It’s what he does. News quickly spread that Jesus had come into the home as the shockwaves of healing and change reverberated through the community.

Morale of the story: if Jesus has come into your house you won’t be able to keep it a secret. It will get out. You won’t be able to help it. That’s because he will never come into a home and leave things the same. He’s an applecart kicker over. A sin forgiver. A life-changer. A destiny re-router. Once inside your life his healing touch and out of control blessings will creep into every crevice of who you are and it will soon be visible on the outside. The kind of change he brings can’t be hidden for long. People will notice.

Take some time today to ask Christ to invade every nook and cranny of your being. Make sure he knows that your heart is his home and he can do whatever he wants in your life. Is there some area of your schedule or a relationship where you have been holding back? Give him an all access pass to your soul–no holds barred. But be prepared for others to notice, because word is going to get out.

Matthew 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

I realize that is not what the US Forest Service had in mind when they printed the sign. They want people to be careful with fire in their homes so that it doesn’t lead to fires elsewhere. God wants the opposite to happen, spiritually speaking. He wants us to be zealously on fire for Him and for that to spread like wildfire.

But that will not happen if we are not living it out under our own roof. You can’t ignore your own soul’s need for time with God, neglect time spent in prayer with your wife and fail to be a spiritual leader with your children and then show up at church and be a powerful leader or a an effective witness for Christ at work. If your own house isn’t burning how can you expect to catch anything else up in the blaze?

Nothing saps of spiritual strength and renders you powerless in public ministry so much as not living it out where ministry matters most, in private. If you aren’t fanning the flames at home you will have to conjure it up elsewhere; and fake fire is dangerous (Leviticus 10) and it lacks both heat and light.

Fire prevention starts at home.

In Mark’s gospel there is a story where the disciples would have been wise to approach the turbulence they were in with a similar line of thinking. One evening, in Mark 4, Jesus and the twelve got into a boat. He told them that they were going to cross to the other side. But halfway across the lake a great windstorm arose and the waves beat into the boat. The Bible tells us that this was so severe that the boat began to fill with water. Scary.

Now had they thought back they would have remembered that Jesus had told them they were going to cross over to the other side. He hadn’t said that they were all going to get into the boat and drown. Remember this the next time you get into a storm, Jesus’ command is His enablement. His promises never fail. Let’s give them a pass for not remembering His exact wording.

I think that the crucial thing they overlooked was the flight attendant concept. Had they looked at Jesus they would had noticed that He had gone into the stern of the boat and was asleep on a pillow. I love that. Here they were in a situation that was causing them to panic and to come unhinged. But Jesus wasn’t phased, He was entering the REM phase of the sleep cycle! Mistaking His calm for indifference, they go on to wake Him up and accuse Him of not caring that they are dying. Had they taken their cue from Him instead of trying to “backseat Messiah” Him they could have tucked themselves in and gotten the benefit of a nap as well.

Here is the point. God is not even remotely phased by the things that freak you out. He isn’t. Psalm 29:10 says that He SAT enthroned at the flood. The flood. As in the biggest storm that the world has ever seen. Yeah, He remained seated and composed throughout it all. He wasn’t pacing or frantic, bothered or nervous. Trust me when I tell you that whatever you are going through today isn’t getting Him to the edge of His seat. He is in control and has it completely under control.

It might seem like the whole thing is going to go under the water. The wind is so loud you can hardly hear anything else. It is dark and scary and cold. The other side seems so far away. But He is in your boat! Get yourself a snuggie.

During these times we do things like: list out pros and cons on a paper with a line down the middle, seek wise counsel, pray and fast and sometimes, in desperation, we look to God’s Word for hidden clues as though it were a magic eye poster. I remember messing myself up pretty good when I was praying between moving to Montana and staying in California while reading the book of Acts….Paul had a dream with a man from Macedonia and that sounds kind of like Montana if you slur your words…maybe I should go there! But then in the next couple verses he went down to the river side and Riverside is in California so maybe God wants me to stay here! I was admittedly clutching at straws.

And while we should definitely be turning to godly friends, and praying as we seek His will, I think we often neglect one of the most important and obvious steps. Instead of obsessing about the areas where you don’t know what He wants you to do, focus on the ones where you already do. Figure out which parts of your life are already out of His will and get in line.

His Word tells us it’s not His will for any to perish but for all to repent. If you aren’t saved you are outside of His will.

His Word tells us that it’s His will for us to be sanctified and that we would abstain from sexual immorality. If you are sinning sexually you are outside of His will.

His Word tells us that it’s His will for us to be thankful, rejoice in everything and to pray without ceasing. Let’s just say we are all in need of serious work in this area!

You get the idea. And those are just the times that He explicitly says, “The will of the Lord is…” The whole Bible is packed full of crystal clear precepts that reveal God’s will for our relationships, our work ethic, the way we discipline our kids, even the way we treat our animals. It might not tell you whether or not to take that job offer, but it will tell you how to approach work at the job you already have. If you don’t get that figured out it won’t matter where you work, the bigger problem will follow you to your new job and you will remain outside of His will.

What I have found is that when I shift from focusing on the mystery area where I’m waiting for a mexican food induced dream or a hologram to show up on the pages of my Bible; and instead I deal with the areas where He already has given me instruction but I haven’t obeyed, the whole process seems to gel and fall into place without the agony. It’s kind of like being in a car with a GPS unit deep in a parking lot. If you punch in where you want to go you are expecting list by list, turn by turn navigation to show up but instead sometimes you will hear, “You are not on a road. Get to a road and your navigation will begin.” Sometimes I think God says the same to us. We are stalled out waiting for Him to speak and He’s going, “I already did. Do what I have told you, GET ON A ROAD and the next step will come naturally.”

We shouldn’t expect Him to tell us something new until we are doing what He has revealed to us.

Romans 12:1–2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

One of the most remarkable things to me about God is His ability to forget. Over and over again we are told in the Bible that God not only forgives our sins but He forgets them as well. He hides them behind His back. He remembers them no more. However that works, somehow He chooses to not call them to mind as He looks and thinks about us. Amazing.

We don’t have that ability unlocked yet. It seems that we will in heaven because we are told that we will know even as we are known. Until then we are left dwelling on our mistakes, and focusing on our failures. It can be debilitating. Nothing will rob you of your courage and zeal as the reminder of all the stupid things you have done. The devil loves to keep our blooper reels on repeat in our minds and he turns the volume up anytime we start taking steps to activate our calling. I can’t tell you how many times I have been trying to take a big step of faith and woken up in the night haunted by sins that I committed in the past.

These are times where we have to take hold of the truth that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ, and even though our own heart is condemning us, He is greater than our heart. In these moments you have to remind yourself that not only are you forgiven, but God doesn’t even remember what you can’t forget. You can’t let yesterday’s failure keep you from today’s victory.

As I look around scripture I see example of example of people who didn’t let their mistakes keep them from getting up and going big.

Joshua prayed for the sun to stand still after he failed at Ai and prayer-lessly made a truce with the Gibeonites.
Samson killed the most Philistines of his lifetime after giving up the secret to his strength lead to his humiliation and his eyes being poked out.
Jonah participated in the revival at Nineveh after he ran from God and pouted for three days inside a fish.
Peter preached and saw thousands saved after denying Christ three times.

And I believe with all my heart that even if you have made a massive mistake, your greatest day could be waiting just around the corner. Get back up. Walk in forgiveness. Don’t let the devil keep you dwelling on what God has already forgotten. It’s a new day. Because God is awesome, your finest hour could come after biggest failure.

Ignoring problems doesn’t make them go away. Pretending they aren’t there doesn’t make them go away. But in different ways we all do this. Why? It’s easier to just buy bigger, baggier clothes than it is to eat healthier and start working out. It’s less work to just give a child throwing a tantrum what they want than it is to discipline and work on the behavior. Watching tv is less work than having a conversation.

I have even seen churches do this. A certain ministry or programming element that hasn’t been effective for years (if ever) is just kind of ignored, and half-heartedly announced from time to time as it limps on, instead of being eliminated like it needs to be. That, by the way, is a very difficult trigger to pull in the church world, because the inevitable response is, “but we’ve always done it that way…” Or, “but people will freak out if we…” In reality, there are probably a few loud people are going to complain when you pull that band-aid off and deal with that ineffective area of your ministry. Everyone else will probably be invigorated by the change.

If there is something in your life, family or area of responsibility that needs tweaking, fixing, or deleting; don’t ignore it. Do something about it.

John 3:19 And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.

If there is any part of your day, any activity, habits, media you consume, websites you visit, or relationships you foster that you wouldn’t want your wife, your kids or your parents to know about; it’s a fungus. It might be small and containable now, but it won’t stay that way, it will eventually spread and grow more and more toxic until it poisons you and harms people you love. Plus you need to remember these two things: 1. it’s not going to stay a secret forever–your sin will find you out. and 2. It’s not a secret now. God knows. He sees what happens in every shady place.

The only thing to do is to kill it with bleach and expose it to the light of day. Forgiveness comes from confessing our sins to God, healing comes from confessing our sins to other believers who will hold us accountable. And from now on, no more secrets. Walk in the light, that’s where the fruit is.

Romans 13:12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.

That is basically what Jesus told His disciples one day. Here it is as it actually appears in the Bible: “But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” Matthew 13:16–17

Jesus was reminding them that they were getting to experience something that all of the saints in the Old Testament only dreamed about. What was that? Him. They were getting to walk around with Immanuel–God with us. Hebrews 11 says that the OT saints all died longing for and looking to the coming of Christ in faith. And while there is no mention of shark violence, we do read about them being willing to suffer all sorts of things for their hope that they held onto.

The disciples needed to realize that since better men than them lived and died wishing they could experience what they were experiencing, they better not take it for granted. They should be thanking God everyday and not wasting one ounce of the opportunity they had been given. Otherwise, Abraham, Isaiah and Zephaniah are going to be waiting to pummel ‘em in heaven. You think I’m exaggerating? When cities didn’t honor Him and failed to realize what they had been given, Jesus said that in eternity Nineveh and the Queen of Sheba would be waiting to rise up in judgment against them because they responded to far inferior preaching. The disciples got with the program. They took what they had been given, gripped it and ripped it–turning the known world upside down in their lifetime.

This should cause us to give a second thought about how we are using the tremendous resources at our disposal. Unlike all the Old Testament saints we have been given full access to the Holy Spirit, the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead, that He sent after He ascended. We have the promise that Christ will build His church through us and that not even the gates of Hell can’t stop that from happening. And unlike any other Christian generation, through the profusion of technology and the ease of modern travel, there is nothing stopping us from fulfilling the great commission and preaching the gospel to every creature. In other words, we have no excuse. We can’t afford to not podcast and do multi-site and harness the technology that God has put in our laps.

Don’t you think John Wesley, who travelled on horseback and preached two or three times each day in up to 30 cities a month as he gave something like 40,000 messages in his lifetime, would have walked over a bed of coals to have access to an airplane or use a webcast to preach the gospel? What about George Whitfield? He preached to crowds of up to 30,000 people without a microhone! What kind of damage do you think he could have done with some speakers? The reality is that we have been given much, far more than better men and women who have gone before us. Don’t you dare take it for granted. Not unless you want John Wycliffe and Martin Luther to give you a fat lip when you meet them in heaven.

I think that sometimes when we read the story of Bible character’s we forget that we are basically listening to their greatest hits. It’s not exhaustive. We aren’t given every single detail of how they spent their days and years. We are often just given the major moments. Decades are sometimes compressed into into a single sentence. Enormous periods are skipped entirely.

This is vital to keep in mind because failing to do so could create unrealistic expectations as we look at our own lives. If you look at a person like Saul, who was converted on the Damascus road one moment and then blazing trails around the Roman empire planting churches the next, without remembering there was a gap in between where he spent a good chunk of time learning to walk with Christ in Arabia (Galatians 1:17); it could cause you to become discouraged.

Or we could point to Daniel. He risked his life so many times, standing up for God when it could have cost him everything. But his bravery in the king’s throne room and in the lion’s den didn’t just happen, it was forged in the fires of following God over a lifetime. You see this clearly in Daniel 6 when the king had just signed the order making prayer to anyone but him a crime. The Bible says that Daniel went home and got on his knees anyway “…as was his custom since early days.” (Daniel 6:10)

We all would like to think that we would fearlessly face a martyr’s death. That if it came right down to it we would be willing to die before we would deny our Lord. That like Daniel we would defy the king’s order and get down to pray even if it meant that we would be killed. But the big issue isn’t would you pray if it could cost you everything? but do you pray now while it doesn’t cost you anything? Daniel didn’t wait until camera’s were rolling and everyone was watching to get down on his knees. He was a senior citizen currently and had been doing the hard slow work of turning into a spiritual warrior since he was a kid.

It’s very impressive to think about being willing to die for God. But first things first. Start by living for Him. Victory in public is always the result of hard work done in private. Olympic athletes are impressive to watch perform, but remember, you are watching the result of thousands and thousands of hours of blood sweat and tears in action. Salvation is an event but sanctification is a process. You become a Christian in a moment, but becoming like Christ takes a lifetime.