Do you remember using Johnson’s detangling spray when you were little? If you were a girl growing up in the late 70’s, early 80’s, with long hair, then you can probably smell it right now just by reading these words.  Without that spray my hair was a tangled, hot mess and a brush was the enemy. However, when the detangler was around I could grab that brush with excitement and begin the pain-free process of watching those tangles simply slide loose, leaving a straight, shiny, bump-free head topper waiting for the hair-dryer to sing over my tangle-free coif.

Speaking of hair-dryers, it was just that that prompted my heart to write this. Although it was a couple years ago, I remember it like yesterday and I knew God was nudging me to explore the value of taking the time to detangle.  As I mentioned in my post Entangled Versus Entwined, I have been chewing on the words entangled, tangled, tangled-up, knotted etc… for several years. This particular hair-dryer moment started when I was at the beach with some friends and we were running late for a dinner reservation.  I went to grab my hair-dryer and the cord was a tangled mess. I went to plug it in that way because I didn’t think I had time to untangle it. I paused for a moment and thought, “Wow, that is actually a pretty profound statement.” I decided to stop and take the few extra minutes to untangle that cord. I had a better reach and was able to move around giving my hair more air time and a quicker process all together. You see, had I not taken the time to detangle, I would have had limited mobility and almost no reach at all. My hair was dry and done in record time and I was early, not late.

How many times do we rush through life, looking at tangled messes; yet, we decide not to take the time to detangle for fear we will be late for something or we just don’t want the hassle of having to pause and pick through the chaos in front of us. Taking the time to work through the tangles is actually what we need to do to reach all the places and people God wants us reach. But if we are so tightly tangled, our vision and mobility is limited to the bubble we live in, potentially keeping us from doing and being all God created us for. Something as simple as a tangled hair-dryer cord opened my eyes to many areas I need to slow down, take a serious look, and start untangling one tiny section at a time.

The hair-dryer cord is a bit bigger than a necklace but a necklace also gives a good visual for tangles.  I am pretty sure most of us have had our favorite necklace end up with those tiny, gnarled knots. We often times choose to ignore these knots until they start to interfere with how the jewelry lays on our collarbone or gets shorter and shorter due to more and more knots. It is at this point we realize something must be done if we are to wear our necklace again. We may get out a needle to start digging through the mess, take it to our mom or a jeweler and let them have a go or choose to put it back in the jewelry box for another day.

I see Jesus in all of this. I think he wants us to get out that needle, His Word, and start applying it to the knots. He welcomes us bringing that tangled-up mess to Him, as our Parent or the expert Jeweler, and He is patient to wait on us if we decide to save that knotted up “necklace” for another day. He kindly and tenderly shows us the benefits of taking the time to detangle but He does not force us to do it. He also doesn’t tell us to table something we deem as precious just because it got messy.

God has had me on a detangling journey over the last 3 years post pandemic. We’ve worked out some knots from my past, sorted through some relationships that had become enmeshments, debunked some faith misconceptions, unscrambled and redefined many word wounds and cleared up several misunderstandings that were based on assumptions. I have definitely not arrived as one completely free from entanglement but I am becoming more and more entwined with the heart of the Father as I bring all my tangles, knots, wounds, messes, misunderstands, misconceptions, doubts etc… to the One who works all things together for good and works out tangles we thought we were just stuck with for life. He is co-writing our stories with us and He is the master story teller. He sees end from beginning and the story ends with a bow formed from the once tangled ribbons wrapping up our lives. If you think about it, a tangle is just a counterfeit bow. The twists and turns that cause that mess become a bow in the Hand of the Creator.

Take the time to detangle and don’t forget to ask for help if you need it, from friends, mentors, a therapist and definitely from God. He gave Noah a bow in the sky to signify a new day and He has a bow, not a tangled mess, for each of us that is better than we could ever dream or imagine.