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Shaving for Jesus

The Lord told me to shave??

During the two plus years of having a beard, I never wanted to shave. I loved it. Before the race, I decided I would let it grow out over the nine months and see how long it got, but God had other plans. One night at our midpoint debrief, a couple of the guys just decided to shave for fun and to surprise the rest of the squad. They told me that I should too, knowing that I had no desire to. I said absolutely not. Gabe then asked if it was something I put too much of my identity in, and before he even said anything the Lord was already stirring me up and telling me to get ready, because He had something to teach me.

I got up the next morning to spend time with Him, and prayed into why He was prompting me to shave. He revealed to me that my beard had become somewhat of an idol in my life, because the thought of shaving actually did scare me. I also kept it as a mask, and as something that made me more likable. I genuinely thought I looked better with my beard, and that I would receive more love and approval from others because of it. The Lord is teaching me what it looks like to be totally fulfilled in His love, because it’s the only truly perfect love, and this was just another step towards that. These are some notes I wrote while praying into the why:

To know the full extent of fulfillment in the Father’s love

To know that I am made worthy regardless of what I look like or what other people think about what I look like

To know that nothing has a hold on me except Jesus

To know that I am always a son

To let the reactions come, but to watch them fall off like water droplets

To represent newness

To take away something that could be an idol and fix my eyes on the Lord 

In the Gospel accounts, Jesus talks about the cost of discipleship. It’s heavy. Read over Luke 14:25-33 and consider your own life. Jesus says that anyone who does not hate his entire earthly family, and even his own life, cannot be his disciple. That sounds harsh, and it’s supposed to, but think of the word hate as to “love less” by extension. To love a lot less. Or think of how much you love your family. Your spouse, siblings, children, etc. The Lord deserves infinitely more love than we give them, and infinitely more than we can ever hope to give Him (but, He won’t stop loving you no matter how much or how little you love Him. Wow.). Verse 33 says, So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. What would you not be willing to give up for the Lord? Car? House? Family? Sometimes those things are hard to comprehend, so think about the small things too, because He is Lord of everything. Would you give up $5 to pay for the person behind you at the coffee shop? Would you tell someone they’re loved even if it feels awkward? Would you be interruptible if you saw someone in need of something? Would you be late for your appointment if you were talking to someone who just needed an ear to listen? Would you cut your hair? Would you shave your beard?

Maybe the smaller things seem trivial, but take a look at Matthew 25:14-30, the parable of the talents. In verse 21, the master tells one of the servants that was faithful that because he was faithful with the small amount of money, that he would be set over much more. What are some small things you can be faithful in to build your trust in Him and to practice obedience to Him? He has more for us if we continue to be faithful in small things. 

After having our one week debrief at a Christian retreat camp in Costa Rica, we are now in the Dominican Republic! We’re working with Mission of Hope, and it’s where we’ll be for the next 2 months before heading back to the states. Thanks for reading, love you all!