I have a cowlick. There. I said it. Of course, you probably do, too.
It isn’t that I’m freaked out by my cowlick. I mean, I’ve had it my whole life. But I woke up the other day, looked in the mirror to realize that my cowlick had apparently been out partying while I slept, and got curious enough to ask Google about it. There are plenty of things that I find myself typing into the blank bar on Google, but “how common are cowlicks” kind of surprised me.
What also surprised me was this “thanks for nothing” result from a health site about cowlicks. Trust me, you’re going to be underwhelmed by this answer. An actual site on the actual internet popped up as one of the top results with, wait for it…
“Anyone can have cowlicks; you’re either born with or without them.”
How have I lived so long without knowing that? What if I had waited even one more day to learn this groundbreaking news?
I kept reading on the site and found another gem of information that had obviously been typed by somebody with perfect hair: “Sometimes, a handful of hair follicles don’t get the message and grow in the opposite direction from the rest of your hair.”
So, that’s why some of my hair is standing straight up when the rest of it isn’t! It’s because they are growing in opposite directions. Wow!! Who knew, right?
(Is my sarcasm coming through?)
So, I have some bad follicles, and somebody with non-rebellious follicles is calling out my rebellious follicles.
I decided to leave the follicle shaming website so I could search for hope. I was desperate for anything that could bring those contrary follicles into line. Thankfully, searching for how to get rid of a cowlick revealed something useful:
“The key is to understand your hair’s natural growth pattern, then adjust your cut and styling habits to tame those annoying, rebellious hair follicles.”
That’s when my search about cowlicks came to a screeching halt, and I sensed God beginning to whisper truth to my soul.
“Paul, what is your natural growth pattern?”
“What?” I could feel the rebellious follicles rising on the top of my head.
“I created you to naturally grow toward Me; toward My presence; toward My light. When you try to grow in any other direction, you don’t just have a cowlick – you are the cowlick.”
I didn’t say anything to God, but just the thought of a cow licking me and Him comparing that to me seemed a little over the top. But, I kept listening.
“How do you get rid of the ugly results that come from living your life opposite of how I intended? You have to understand your natural growth pattern and allow me to adjust and style your life to fit my plan.”
By now, you’re probably scratching your head like I was. But as I thought more about it, Romans 12:2 came to mind.
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2 NIV)
Fitting in with – being conformed to – the world often feels like a sure way to blend in and not stand out. But we weren’t made to conform to the world, and when we do, we become cowlicks in the Kingdom. We stand out for all the wrong reasons: as carnal people trying to follow a holy Savior. The way to bring our rebellious nature under control is to get back to what we were made for: a beautiful, walking in the cool of the garden relationship with the Father (see Genesis 3:8). This intimate relationship is how we were wired to grow, and when we try to find it in anything or anyone apart from God, we grow cowlicks because we fight our natural growth patterns.
Who knew you could learn so much about God from a cowlick?
Apparently, Google did, because at the bottom of the search page, I found a button to click that said, “cowlick spiritual meaning.”
I didn’t click it. I’d already found what I was looking for.
