A Hairy Problem

Roger Shouse

A person between the ages of 20—30 has about 615 hair follicles per square centimeter.  A person 50 years of age has around 485 hair follicles per square centimeter.  Typically, most people have somewhere between 100,000 —150,000 hairs on their head.  By the way, the average hair loss for an individual is 50—100 hairs per day.  As a result, there is no way you can tell accurately how many hairs you have (in fact, unless you are going bald, most of us don’t really care).  But God knows.

Jesus said: “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent?  And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.  But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  Therefore do not fear; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:29-31).  This passage reveals three interesting truths.

First, God knows more about us than we know about us.  That is a humbling thought.  When we sometimes feel like no one understands us or grasps our situation, we forget that God does.  God knows your personality.  God knows your strengths.  God knows what motivates you.  God knows when you stumble.  God knows what you like and don’t like.  God knows the real you.  Therefore, when God declares something worthwhile, He knows what He is talking about.  When God warns about danger, He knows what He is talking about.  When God tells us that we should do something, we need to do it, because He knows us better than we know ourselves.

God is a God of detail.  How insignificant are hairs and sparrows to us.  Yet God is aware of them.  He is a God of details.  The motives, attitudes and heart behind our actions are as important to Him as the actions themselves.  It does little good to give, if you have left out the detail of being a cheerful giver.  Singing fails if we neglect thankfulness in our heart.  Let us be a people of details, as God is.

God cares about you.  This is why Jesus referred to sparrows and hair.  We are of value to Him. Christ was not sent to save the whales, the environment, or the endangered species, but mankind.  Man has value!  Stress and worry often make us wonder if God cares.  These two simple illustrations remind us that He does.

                                                                                                From the Market Street Messenger; Athens, AL