Well folks you read it here first(unless you read it somewhere else first). My beard is as gone as the weight of my sin, and wow am I sad about it(the beard, not the sin thing thats cool). For strangers reading, I love my beard and find a lot of identity in it. To people who know me, yes, it is as hard as it sounds. It seems like such a small and stupid thing but wow do I love it. It was a safety net. Something I would use to describe myself. I would give no characteristics other than I’m a big hairy bearded man. While none of those things are bad by themselves and aren’t harmful I see the struggle it caused me when I would find my identity in things that don’t define me. Christ however does. These last few weeks have been hard. Physically I’ve been tired for so many reasons. Whether its the 5 AM workout or the long walk to ministry I’ve been tired. Mentally I’ve been exhausted and its because I have let evil thoughts manifest in me instead of giving up darkness to Christ. Because of this I haven’t been as spiritually tired as I should be. Since I wasn’t digging into God when I needed to be I was only exhausting my physical self and not relying on the Spirit to help me. So shaving the beard was bigger than just removing my beloved facial hair. It was a physical way of giving up something that I thought was so important. Something I took pride in, or would stroke when I was uncomfortable. It was my way of making a change when I felt like God is calling me to change. Change in trusting him, change in relying in His strength over mine no matter how strong I think I am. Its time for me to fully trust God, still not positive how that looks exactly because it is so much easier said than done but everyday is a chance to improve. I could use continuous prayer from all of you. Both with the trials I am facing as well as the stresses of fundraising while on the field. Thank you all so much for reading and God bless.
