Grace Blowing Through Your Hair

When I was a kid I loved to put my arm out of the window of our family car and pretend that I was channeling all of my being into my hand... and I was flying. 

Sometimes an adult in the car would tell me to pull my arm back in because they'd heard some story somewhere about a kid who got his arm knocked off when he was hanging it out. 

The thought of this as a possibility put a bit of fear into me, but not enough to keep me from doing it.  

Then one day, I decided to put my head out and let the wind hit my face while we were moving along at a brisk pace.  My mom grabbed the back of my shirt and jerked me unceremoniously back into the car. 

My mom didn't get upset about all that much, so it made an impression. 

"Don't do that again!" she exclaimed.  "You scared me half to death!"  The fact that mom was upset and exorcised enough to grab a handful of my shirt and yank me into the car was enough for me. I never did it again.  

But I loved the way it felt with the wind in my hair (I had a bunch of it back then), and the exhilarating feeling of freedom that it brought to my chest. 

I read this quote from Bob Goff this morning: 

Let grace blow your hair back like your head’s out the window. 

When I read that quote, I was instantly brought back to that moment as a kid.  I got to thinking about the way my mom reacted, and the irrational fear that brought her to pull me back into the car. 

Now, my mom was acting out of the impulses of a mom who was wanting to keep her only child's head from getting knocked clean off by a passing car, or tree branch, but there was a lesson in it that I couldn't quite figure out at first.  

And then it came to me... 

Sometimes the dynamic, unpredictable way that grace finds us can feel so absolutely freeing and exhilarating for us, and absolutely frightening for others.  

I have experienced this over the past several years as I have begun to understand more clearly just how radical and amazing the grace of God is, and how that grace is extended to everyone and everything--no strings attached. 

So when I've stuck my head out the window and let the wind of that truth blow my hair back, there have been people who became angry, agitated, confused, panicked, and they do everything they can to yank me back into the car. 

When you are too afraid to stick your neck out and let the winds of grace whip you around, seeing someone else do it is sometimes too hard to handle. 

I've been that person, too.  We all have at some point.  

But the thing is, once you have felt that grace-filled, Spirit-driven wind on your face, you don't want to ride around with the windows up anymore.  You might even want to find a new car with a sunroof, or maybe a convertible.  

Because now you know that grace is always out there on the other side of the window, blowing, flowing, compelling you to let it mess your hair up and make you feel like you're flying. 

Stick your head out the window today.  Let yourself feel the grace. Don't be scared.  It might mess you up, but it will be in the best kind of way.  And don't let the people who are too afraid to join you steal your joy.   

May it be so for you today and every day forward, and may the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you now and always. Amen.