Rubbing my eyes, cracking my lower back, I drag myself out of bed, shuffle down the hall and into the bathroom. I flip on the lights over the vanity and peer into the mirror. My first thought? “Wow, I’m having a bad hair day!”
Then I laugh. Why? I’m over 69 years old. There’s no such thing as a bad hair day, because I still have hair.
How many? Estimates vary. Apparently (and this surprised me), those with blonde hair usually average the most hair follicles. Up to 150,000. Those with brown hair—110,000. Black—100,000. And red? 90,000. (I couldn’t find a tally for white hair.)
Now, my educated guess is that my age and my mileage have weeded out a healthy percentage of my hair, dipping me below the average for blondes. To confirm that, I suppose I could clean my comb of this morning’s hair carnage and start counting. Then I could extrapolate those findings over the past week, month, and years, and…get a splitting headache over the futility of the exercise.
Why in the world would I sweat trying to figure out how many hairs I currently have on my head? After all, the One-Who-Watches-Over-Me already knows. My Savior once observed, “Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground without the knowledge and consent of your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all numbered.” (Matthew 10:29-30) Jesus is assuring me that my Heavenly Father already knows if I have 115,492 hairs on my head, or 113,696. He knows if my hair-count went down by 48 this morning, or 31.
And he knows even more than that! “And even the hairs of your head are all numbered.” My Heavenly Father watches over me so closely that he knows if my comb holds hairs #68,748, #102,491, and #13,206. That’s how closely he watches over me, and he does the same for you.
But not as if we were nothing more than lab-rats under a microscope. Not to analyze us or dissect us. But why then? Why would the Ruler of the Universe bother numbering the hair on my head and yours?
Because he cares! This our Father proves, not just by numbering our hair, but also by doing some reverse numbering when it comes our sins. The Apostle Paul explains, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them.” (2 Corinthians 5:19) Our Father cared enough for a world-full of sinners, you and me included, to purge the record of our sins from his divine ledger books! He did this by sending his perfect Son down to our world to be our Substitute. Then Jesus lived the perfect life our Father’s holy law demanded from you and me, and Jesus died the death we deserved for our sins.
Jesus Christ did all this in order to reconcile us, to make-us-at-one with our Father who cares about us so much that he wants to be with us through eternity in heaven above! Knowing this, it’s not at all surprising that our Father peeks down from heaven and watches us first thing in the morning, when we run that comb or brush through our hair. “So do not be afraid” of having a bad hair day, or anything else.
Privileged to Serve,
Rev. Glenn Schwanke
Then I laugh. Why? I’m over 69 years old. There’s no such thing as a bad hair day, because I still have hair.
How many? Estimates vary. Apparently (and this surprised me), those with blonde hair usually average the most hair follicles. Up to 150,000. Those with brown hair—110,000. Black—100,000. And red? 90,000. (I couldn’t find a tally for white hair.)
Now, my educated guess is that my age and my mileage have weeded out a healthy percentage of my hair, dipping me below the average for blondes. To confirm that, I suppose I could clean my comb of this morning’s hair carnage and start counting. Then I could extrapolate those findings over the past week, month, and years, and…get a splitting headache over the futility of the exercise.
Why in the world would I sweat trying to figure out how many hairs I currently have on my head? After all, the One-Who-Watches-Over-Me already knows. My Savior once observed, “Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground without the knowledge and consent of your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all numbered.” (Matthew 10:29-30) Jesus is assuring me that my Heavenly Father already knows if I have 115,492 hairs on my head, or 113,696. He knows if my hair-count went down by 48 this morning, or 31.
And he knows even more than that! “And even the hairs of your head are all numbered.” My Heavenly Father watches over me so closely that he knows if my comb holds hairs #68,748, #102,491, and #13,206. That’s how closely he watches over me, and he does the same for you.
But not as if we were nothing more than lab-rats under a microscope. Not to analyze us or dissect us. But why then? Why would the Ruler of the Universe bother numbering the hair on my head and yours?
Because he cares! This our Father proves, not just by numbering our hair, but also by doing some reverse numbering when it comes our sins. The Apostle Paul explains, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them.” (2 Corinthians 5:19) Our Father cared enough for a world-full of sinners, you and me included, to purge the record of our sins from his divine ledger books! He did this by sending his perfect Son down to our world to be our Substitute. Then Jesus lived the perfect life our Father’s holy law demanded from you and me, and Jesus died the death we deserved for our sins.
Jesus Christ did all this in order to reconcile us, to make-us-at-one with our Father who cares about us so much that he wants to be with us through eternity in heaven above! Knowing this, it’s not at all surprising that our Father peeks down from heaven and watches us first thing in the morning, when we run that comb or brush through our hair. “So do not be afraid” of having a bad hair day, or anything else.
Privileged to Serve,
Rev. Glenn Schwanke
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