What would you think if the first thing in the morning you heard the word “skull” and then had a picture of one come to your mind? Yikes, huh? My immediate thought was of “Golgotha,” the last place that we must come to before we’re perfected. Indeed, we can’t resurrect unless the “Place of the Skull” plays its part in our destiny. After our will is completely surrendered and yes, after we sweat blood-,… not literal blood, but the essence of our natural life, it’s time to become bald so that we can be like bald eagles who soar high over this earth’s realm. Truly, none of us wants to lose our lives, but unless we do, we can’t have an ascension. It’s as simple as that, but letting go of the old is not that easy. Our Lord could do it because he looked at the joy set before Him… He knew that laying down His life was well worth the cost, and now, what about us?

This morning as I meditated on the skull and on other matters like the vision I had of a giant arrow in my body, I asked the Lord: “When will the sorrow end? When is joy coming?” His words hit me like a flash of lightning that brought no damage, only light. He instantly and simply replied: “Trust me!” and empowered me with the grace to do so.

In my spirit, I heard Job crying out from the depth of his soul: “Even if He slays me, I will trust Him!” How many have suffered all the sorrows that Job, the apostle Paul and so many others experienced? Lots of us have had our share though, eh? Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but He delivers us out of them all, so what’s the holdup on the path way to our joy?

The scripture comes to mind that God will deal with the disobedience of others, when our obedience is fulfilled. (2 Cor. 10: 6) How many of us have obeyed everything God has instructed us to do? Who do you know that no longer speaks his own words… only God’s words? I confess I’m not there yet, but I cling tightly to the word that “GOD shall perfect what concerns me.” (Psalm 138: 8)

I believe there’s another reason that there’s a holdup: Job revealed it when he said: “Before I just knew about you, but now I know you and I repent in dust and ashes!” Has the word “Sorrow makes the heart better” penetrated deep into your soul? There’s no way we can come to the end of ourselves without this not so desirable one who causes much trouble. I tell you she’s a faithful friend-,… a messenger from above who will do for us what we can not do for ourselves. It takes disappointments, divisions, humiliations, shame, persecutions, afflictions, losses and every other kind of suffering to deal with our rebellious flesh and unruly tongues, but if we understand sorrow’s purpose, we will rejoice. Truly, a great work is being done in us through all our sufferings!

Today the scripture in 2 Cor. 4: 8-18 brought deeper understanding and comfort to me, especially verse 10 in which the Apostle Paul relayed that he was “always bearing about in the body the dying of our Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be manifest in our body.” Before Paul penned these words he stated that he had been troubled, perplexed, persecuted and cast down. Oh yes, he knew what it was to have an arrow shot through him that he couldn’t pull out, and I dare say most of you reading this do, too.

The word “skull” has an etymological meaning of “bald head” and a few months ago, I had a vision of the Lord with a razor in his hand shaving the hair off my head. To be sure I didn’t have joy seeing my glory being removed. Tell me: What do you glory in? I believe that everything we glory in except the cross and Jesus crucified is going to be stripped from us. Until we count all things but dung that we might win Christ, we can not be resurrected into new life and until we repent in dust and ashes, we will not know the restoration of everything we’ve lost. But if we do, Whew! What could bring us more joy than Christ being fully formed in us? Nothing! Nothing! NOTHING!!

Take a good look at that skull now and rejoice with all your heart. Know that a new heaven and a new earth are at hand! That bald head of ours is the means to a great end, for we shall be exchanging our lost glory for His. Can you hear the Lord crying out to our Father in Heaven: “Glorify me with the same glory I had before the foundation of the world!” Oh yes, the first fruit company will have HIS glory and us being like Him will be the joy we’ve longed for…. even joy unspeakable having the fullness of Spirit and hair galore representing it.

When I was a little girl, my hair didn’t grow out until I was about 4 years old. Strangers would come up to me and say: “What a cute little boy!” and I would shout back: “NO, I’M NOT!” It didn’t help that my mother usually dressed me in pants and a T-shirt and one person actually tried to convince me I was a boy. Sigh! To this day, whenever I meet someone with long, thick, beautiful tresses, I tell them: “In the hereafter, I’m going to have hair like yours!”…. AND SO I SHALL!!

And YOU, too!