(August 31, 2023) Norman and Margaret Moss share good news…

So, it was 9am, and we were parked outside the local hairdressers.

Actually, we had been parked where we were from about 8.40am as we try not to be late for appointments. But where was the hairdresser?

The shop was dark and empty. Hairdryers, clippers, and scissors lay half hidden in sepulchral gloom. A further twenty minutes dragged by, and Margaret decided to do the rest of the shopping leaving me to keep watch.

I waited a further ten minutes and still no one appeared.

Then suddenly this highly flustered lady ran towards me waving keys and showering me with apologies. She had overslept!

Fortunately, I had been reading John Lennox’s book 2084 while I waited and since it is only 2023 I felt I had plenty of time and it was easy to be pastoral and placid. So, all was well.

It was only when I thought about it later that I realised that for the lady in question it would have been a Bad Hair Day.

Stress
Did you know that stress can damage your hair?

In a student project 202 people were asked whether having a haircut was good for mental health, and it transpires that a visit to the salon brings a period of pleasurable rest and should result in a Good Hair Day.

• Samson, at the hands of Delilah, had his bad hair day (Judges 16:19).
• Elisha too had a bad hair day because of baldness (2 Kings 2:23).
• Absalom, King David’s rebellious son, really had a bad hair day too! (2 Samuel 18:9).
• What about you, dear reader? Do you have bad hair days?

Peace offered by Jesus
We were meditating on Romans 3:17, ‘The way of peace they do not know’ and felt the Lord was saying –

‘By faith you enter my peace. By the blood shed for you there is peace and reconciliation. So, in the depths of your being there is always peace, for you are mine and I am yours.

‘But as there are waves on the sea even when the ocean below is untroubled, so the enemy will always seek to disturb and distress you with conflicting feelings and anxious thoughts.

‘Because you are at peace with me, you are at war with the powers of darkness. So paradoxically one of the greatest battles you fight will be to have peace of mind and heart.

‘Seek to walk in the fragrance of my serenity. Lay hold of my peace, let the Spirit of peace dwell within you, fight the good fight of faith and walk each day in victory over stress. Be a peacemaker.

‘I do not call you to walk in the ways of this world but in my way of peace. Even when difficulties come, stay in my way of peace, casting all your care on me  –   for why? Because I care for you, and I am the lover of your soul.

‘My desire for you is that as you walk with me, so you will know peace in your family, peace with your neighbours, peace in your going out and your coming in, peace in your finances, peace in every conversation, peace in every situation.

‘Be filled with my peace at all times because you know that you are mine and I give you my peace.’

With our love and best wishes for many Good Hair Days!

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Norman and Margaret Moss pastored Queen’s Road Baptist Church, Wimbledon for over 30 years, experiencing charismatic renewal since the 1960s and bringing the congregation into renewal in the 70s when the church grew significantly. Their desire is still to encourage ministers, churches and groups that are hungry for more of the Holy Spirit and although ‘retired’ they preach and teach by Zoom, and also contribute to Dr. Ayodele Afuye’s Vessels of Virtues Fire Ministries. Link: via OnlinerConnect@gmail.com
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