Don’t Doubt The Bottle | What Shampoo Taught Me About God’s Promises

It was a cloudy Monday morning in March.

And I was EXCITED.

Why?

Three words:

CURL. DEFINING. SHAMPOO

I had just purchased a bottle of Pacifica’s Pineapple Curls Shampoo from Marshall’s yesterday. And, as a girl with a headful of black wavy curls, THIS shampoo was an unexpected BLESSING.

I mean, I personally have never heard of “curl defining SHAMPOO.”

So, I could NOT resist buying it and trying it out.

And I was SO excited that today was the day for me to try it out!

Boy, was I excited!

A Test Wash

Well, after washing my hair with the shampoo, I honestly expected my hair to become nice and curly immediately.

But, after rinsing all the shampoo out, my hair still looked normal.

Maybe after I dry my hair it’ll be curly, I thought.

A Test Dry

Well, I stepped into my room afterwards and dried my dripping-wet hair with a towel.

I glanced in the mirror.

My curls DID NOT look “defined” at ALL!

Man, I complained inside my head. I can’t believe what a rip off that shampoo is! What a waste I made just to buy something that doesn’t even work!

I then made up my mind to immediately return the so-called “curl defining” shampoo later that day.

Things Take Time (And Air)

In the middle of my hair care regime, I bowed my head down to rub some black Castor oil into my scalp.

As I was massaging a palmful of oil into my scalp, I glanced at the dangling ends of my hair.

Hey, I thought. Why does my hair look so curly?

I hadn’t put on my curl-defining cream yet.

Why in the world did my hair look–?

Then it hit me.

The SHAMPOO actually DOES work!

The problem wasn’t the shampoo itself, rather, the problem was my shamefully embarrassing lack of patience!

Restless For Change

While I’m sure most of you have never gotten impatient over a bottle of curl-defining shampoo, I can honestly guarantee that many of us have been impatient toward something else.

The Bible.

Or, more specifically, God’s promises in the Bible.

What do I mean by that?

What I mean are Biblical promises such as:

The Lord will perfect that which concerns me;
Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever;
Do not forsake the works of Your hands.

(Psalm 138:8)

being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ

(Philippians 1:6)

They shall come with weeping,
And with supplications I will lead them.
I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters,
In a straight way in which they shall not stumble;
For I am a Father to Israel,
And Ephraim is My firstborn.

(Jeremiah 31:9, emphasis added)

Often, for many of us as Christians, we look at Bible promises like the ones above and think–

Will God REALLY do this in my life? I mean, I feel like this promise isn’t even working out for me!

Just like I had impatient doubts over my curl-defining shampoo, we slap those same doubts against the promises of God’s Holy Word!

But why do we as Christians stumble into such doubtful and discouraged thinking against God’s promises?

What “Saints” Need

In Revelation 14:12, we read about a primary spiritual component that all of God’s true followers–the “saints”–have:

Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.

(Revelation 14:12)

Based on this text, all of God’s true and faithful followers have patience.

So, could it be that–through our failures and shortcomings in sin–God is trying to teach us to have PATIENCE?

Not just patience with our weak, sinful frame, but patience with God in giving us the victory and deliverance from our sinful struggles in HIS timing . To continue following God and trusting HIM alone to fix and heal us, no matter how broken and sick we feel.

This all reminds me of one of my favorite verses from Psalms:

I waited patiently for the Lord;

And He inclined to me,

And heard my cry.

He also brought me up out of a horrible pit,

Out of the miry clay,

And set my feet upon a rock,

And established my steps.

He has put a new song in my mouth—

Praise to our God;

Many will see it and fear,

And will trust in the Lord.

Blessed is that man who makes the Lord his trust,

And does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.

(Psalm 40:1-4)

Look closely at how David’s part (“I”) was waiting patiently for God. Meanwhile, God’s part was bringing him out of the pit, God’s part was setting his feet and establishing his steps.

Psalm 40:1-4 is a Biblical illustration of the righteousness by faith experience.

Trusting God to repair you, in spite of how overly broken you may feel at the moment.

The Heart Define Experience

In the same way the curl-defining shampoo needed time and air for it to “activate” its curl-enhancing properties, so it is with Christ’s character becoming more “defined” in our hearts and lives.

It requires time. And, in turn, time requires patience.

It requires the “air” of the Holy Spirit; and the Holy Spirit must be invited into our hearts day by day as we spend time with God.

A Prayer

Dear reader, do you desire God to give you more patience and more of His Holy Spirit in your life to help you wait on Him to pull you out of sin and build His character in your heart?

If so, then just pray:

I’d like to conclude this blog post with a quote from one of my favorite authors, Ellen White, that I hope and pray will encourage you to keep trusting Jesus to build you up to be more and more like Him.

Sanctification is not the work of a moment, an hour, a day, but of a lifetime. It is not gained by a happy flight of feeling, but is the result of constantly dying to sin, and constantly living for Christ.

–The Acts of The Apostles pg.560–

Amen! Maranatha!