How to style your hair.
My friend, Dan, told me a weird story on our way up to the office this morning.
He said he was dreaming about getting ready for the day, and got to the part where he styled his hair with some pomade (he always looks so sharp), but instead of there being pomade next to his sink, there was only ketchup.
“That’s weird,” he thought, “I’m pretty sure I usually use something else to style my hair. Ketchup? Wouldn’t it smell? Would people tell me if it did? Ah well, must be what I use.” And he did. Then he woke up.
“What does it mean???” I said. We laughed and started in on our emails.
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Every so often I get this nervousness that creeps up in me that I’m on the wrong path. That I’m wasting time and need to be doing something else or something more or something faster. I feel it when I only half listen during conversations, when my YouTube algorithm begins to fill with every type of “things I wish I knew when I was 20” videos, and when I read five pages before I remember that I’m reading.
I had a morning like that today. No particular reason. It just hung heavy. Sometimes I need a nap.
After lunch, I stepped in the elevator to ride back up to the office, and I prayed. I asked God, “Would you show me something? It can be anything. I just want to know if I’m pointed in the right direction here. Literally, I’ll take anything.”
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I walked into the office, said hi to Dan, and started in on my emails again. You never want to answer emails when your place in the universe is in question.
Hannah walks in, “You guys, I saw something so crazy! These two students were sitting in the hall with their Chick-Fil-A, and one of them went to open their ketchup pack and it went ALL OVER their friends’ hair!” I look back at Dan. What the heck.
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Psalm 23:3 says “He leads me along the right paths for His name’s sake.”
(Collective sigh of relief here.)
If there was any idea I needed when I was in college (and apparently still need today), it’s that I am not my own. The plan for my life has God’s name written all over it, and God doesn’t make crappy plans.
You don’t always have to know what you’re doing, because He always does.
Seek Him and His Kingdom, (i.e. go and enjoy Him, chase the dreams He’s put in you as far as you can, and do for people what you would want done for you). He’ll make sure everything else gets worked out the way it needs to.
Feeling lost? Ask him to show you something. Literally anything. And then expect him to do it. Keep your eyes peeled and stay alert to his presence and what He’s doing around you.
He delights in the heart that seeks him.
Sometimes He won’t show you anything out of the ordinary (a relative term on this perfectly situated, life-producing, beautiful miracle we call earth), and that’s ok.
It might even be a good thing, if at least for our ketchup-free hair.
One thing I know for sure - he’ll show you all you need to see to stay on the right path. To take the next step. To wait. To move to the right. To listen. To grow. To be aware. To trust.
Expect him to show you what you need, and be ready to respond. If it’s to go, don’t let fear or pride or shame hold you back from the adventure ahead. If it’s to wait, don’t let your impatience cause you to miss what He has for you right here.
What he says is true. He will lead you on the right paths, for his name’s sake.