Fully Restored

Today I have bought myself yet another shampoo and conditioner that claims to restore my nearly-dead hair.

 

My hair isn't in dreadful condition, but the ends are in a shocking state.  They are split and flyaway and fuzzy.  Today's wind/rain combo left me feeling and looking like Bertha Mason.

 

I'm not sure how much it will help my hair, but I am a sucker for a new product.

 

I am always on the lookout for the next thing that will restore and revitalise my hair, rather than acknowledging that the thing that would help my hair the most would be to stop dyeing it so much or straightening it so regularly.  If I looked after it better, I wouldn't need to spend so much time or money trying to restore it.

 

But rather than fix the real problem, I spend my time and money trying to alleviate the symptoms of the problem.

 

I think in a spiritual way I often chase after different things to 'restore' me too.  Rather than dealing with the 'root' issues (no pun intended), I will chase after things which will make me feel better in the short-term: things that will make me feel confident and secure and happy.

 

Instead, I need to return to God, who promises to fully restore me.

 

I love these Old Testament promises -

 

"The Lord says, “I will give you back what you lost."

 

[Joel 2:25 NLT]

 

and         

 

          "This very day I’m declaring a double bonus—
          everything you lost returned twice-over!"

 

[Zechariah 9:12 MSG]

 

Rather than just dealing with the superficial symptoms of my problems - both hair and spirit-related - I need to go back to their roots and deal with the real causes.  And I need to ask God to come and fully restore me.

 

 

 

Oil

I dye my hair a lot.

 

I get bored of having the same colour after too long and enjoy a change.  However, whilst I enjoy changing my hair colour regularly, I know that it's not good for the condition of my hair.  I often have dry, split ends and am often in need of a deep conditioning mask.

 

One of the best things for over-dyed hair is olive oil.  A good few spoonfuls warmed up and rubbed into the ends of my hair and left for a few hours, or even overnight.

 

When it's washed out, it leaves my hair feeling really soft and silky.  The split ends are flattened down and sealed - if only for a short while - and my hair feels smooth again.

 

In Psalm 23, David likens us to sheep and describes God as our shepherd.  One of the things that shepherds would do for their sheep was to rub oil into the wool on their heads.  Oil helped to ease out any thorns or brambles that were caught in the wool and caused pain.  It also helped to soothe any wounds, and it cleaned any dirt from the sheep's wool.

 

       "You anoint my head with oil;
       my cup overflows."

 

       [Psalm 23:5 NIV]

 

Whilst God doesn't literally anoint our heads with oil, He anoints our hearts and our lives with His love.

 

He eases 'thorns' and 'brambles' out of our hearts - those things that are causing us pain.  He heals our wounds so that they don't fester and become infected.  And He cleans us up and gives us a fresh start.

 

But in order for us to do all of these things, we need to do two things.  Firstly, we have to come to Him.  And secondly, we have to stay still whilst He works on our hearts.  Sometimes it feels as though it would be much more comfortable to live with the thorns in our hearts and the wounds that have been inflicted, rather than going through the process of letting God ease them out and heal them.

 

But if we will stay still and let our Shepherd God work on our hearts, we will find ourselves healed from  our deep wounds.  We will find the painful thorns we have carried around with us eased out.  And we will find we are cleaned up and given a fresh, new start.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ombre

Ombre. 

 

It's French for 'shade' or 'shades' and is a much nicer-sounding word for the current trend in dip-dyeing hair [where the ends of the hair are dyed, usually much lighter, than the rest of the hair].

 

Done properly, the aim is to for the different shades to be indistinguishable and for the lines between them to be blurred.

 

I have had a go at it this weekend.

 

The ends are not as blonde as I would have liked, but are definitely much lighter than the roots.  And I am very pleased with how well I have managed to blend the shades: it is almost impossible to see where the lighter shade begins.* 

 

The light and darkness blend together.

 

Symbolically, darkness and light are important in the Bible: darkness signifies our attempts to live independently - apart from God - and to sort out our own issues, and light represents a life lived in the loving presence of God, made possible through Jesus Christ.

 

Isaiah, prophesying Jesus' birth writes,

"That time of darkness and despair will not go on forever [...] The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine."

[Isaiah 9:1-2 NLT]

 

It is through Jesus that we can leave our lives of directionless, disorientating darkness and walk in the light:

“I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

 

[John 8:12 NIV, emphasis mine] 

 

And it is in this "light of life" - the light of God's glory and love and forgiveness and grace and mercy - that we begin to find healing for our souls and direction for our lives.

 

This is the chorus of one of my favourite songs - 'Healing Begins' by Tenth Avenue North:

 

"This is where the healing begins, oh
This is where the healing starts
When you come to where you're broken within
The light meets the dark
The light meets the dark."

 

 

It is when the light meets the dark that healing begins.

 

 

 

 

* The trick, I have discovered, is to use an old toothbrush to apply the dye.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Full Repair

Split ends.

I have a love/hate relationship with them.  Of course no one wants split ends, they make your hair feel rough and frizzy and look dull at the ends.  But there is something tremendously satisfying about eradicating them.  Either by finding and trimming or, more severely, by pulling them out from the roots.

As a result of dyeing my hair too often and too much heat styling, I seem to have nothing but split ends.  I have just treated myself to some "Full Repair" Shampoo, Conditioner and Intensive Serum, which I am hoping will transform my dull, dead ends. 

Whilst all of the products will hopefully smooth my hair and improve the look and feel of it, I doubt if it can really fully repair my hair.  What my hair probably needs is a good trim, but I am hoping to postpone the need for a cut as long as possible. 

I am hoping this will be a quick fix for my hair until I can afford a proper cut.

Sometimes we have the same approach to our faith or to the 'broken' things in our lives: rather than taking the plunge and trimming, or "cutting off" the dead things, we look for a quick fix.  We look for something that will smooth things over and improve the look and feel of our lives.

But, in order for us to grow, we need to get rid of the dead things in our lives, not just cover them up or smooth them down.  Jesus said,

"I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn't produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more."

[John 15:1-2 NLT emphasis mine]

The reason for cutting off the dead branches in our lives is not simply to get rid of the things that aren't producing fruit, but in order to ensure more growth.

Sometimes a full repair is only possible with a proper trim.