And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Matt 10:30

For more than two decades I’ve been a military wife. I am accustomed to hierarchical living. In this community, you always know who the head of anything is. Within the household, our children know that the final decision is made by the parents. I promised to obey when we made our marriage vows (that said, my husband promised to put my interests first, so he’s made that simple for me). The rank structure is clear. 

Outside the family, we typically know who the head is wherever we go. At school it’s often in the title – head teacher, or in a medical setting, chief this or senior that. Chair and principal are also titles we recognize. But it all means the same thing – head. 

I’m not an etymologist (origins of words expert), but our brains are housed where? In our heads. When I’m thinking pretty hard about something, that energy come from behind my eyes somewhere. Not my feet or my elbow, but my head, or what’s inside it, dictates my everything. 

HEAD PROBLEMS

Lately, I’ve been having some trouble with my head. The trouble is two-fold. First of all, my hormones are wonky. I’m of a certain age and while it’s a privilege to get there, the ramifications are no joke. I’ve experienced proper anxiety for the first time ever (and recognize how blessed I am to have not met that issue until now). And second, structurally. The knock-on effect of a formerly frozen shoulder meets menopause and then reconnects with some whiplash – well, it’s enough to make my physiotherapist scowl and inform me we need more sessions than the original referral suggested.

Those two issues combined have had me on the ropes for a while. Because either doing or thinking have connected with the problems. Do you ever find yourself being effectively benched by a hiccup you’d typically press straight through? For me, that realization was when everything changed. 

THE ACTUAL HEAD

While my head was giving me this array of problems, the REAL head of my life wasn’t. He hasn’t changed. And that’s where the verse comes in. This is Jesus speaking to his disciples, specifically the big twelve. He’s sending them out but not abandoning them. In the run up to this verse, he’s pulling no punches but giving it to them straight. Following Him will not be easy. It’ll be risky, and with the exception of John, will cost them their lives (and John gave his whole life to serve Christ). 

Then in verse 30 (and 31) Jesus tells them something simple but also unimaginable. He has numbered every hair on our heads. There’s no way I’d do that. Not even with my children, whom I adore. But Jesus knows the number. That’s how precious we are to Him. He follows this declaration by reminding the twelve that this shows how much we mean to Him. 

HEAR THIS

So, wherever your head is at this week, make sure your forehead is pressed to the Father’s. He wants to be that close. And then, when you are pressed in, He can remind you that no matter what your head is telling you, no matter the struggle, he see you, knows you intimately, and will never leave you.