Whiplash

Oh, Willow Smith. Only the daughter of someone as insanely great as Will Smith could get away with a song based on, well, whipping your hair back and forth. In this incredibly repetitive but strangely addictive song, Willow sings of whipping her hair back in forth in just about every situation. When she arrives at a party, she whips her hair around. When she goes onstage and hears some applause, she whips her hair around. After she hops out of bed and turns her swag on (sorry, couldn't resist) she ignores all of the people who speak and think badly of her and she - once again - whips her hair back and forth.
It seems like her fix-all solution to every situation is to throw her head  around and whip her hair. Let's look at a line in the bridge: (before the 238927382 "I whip my hair back and forths")

Don't let haters keep me off my grindKeep my head up and I know I'll be fineKeep fighting until I get thereAm down and I feel like giving upI whip my hair back and forth! I whip my hair back and forth!

Haha, sorry. Got a bit carried away there.
Here we see how Willow is feeling a bit down, thanks to all of the people that are thinking poorly or speaking poorly about her. She knows that she shouldn't feel bad because of it, and that she'll be fine, but she's feeling at the end of her rope - and what does she do? Whips her hair back and forth, of course.
Doesn't really seem like a logical solution, does it? Well, maybe, for the sake of the song. Still, though! It's not really what you should do when you're "down and you feel like giving up," right?

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." - Matthew 11:28-30

God is telling us in these verses that, whenever we're feeling tired and run down, unable to go on with whatever we're struggling with, we're to turn to Him. Instead of head banging along with Willow, ask God to take over and stop trying to fight whatever battle you're facing by yourself. Psalm 28:8 says that "The Lord is the strength of His people, a fortress of salvation for His anointed one." In chapter 27 verse 1, it says "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" 
This is one of my favorite verses, which I think goes along with this pretty well:

"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble." - Psalm 46:1

The common theme in all of these verses is that, no matter what we're dealing with or what we're going through, what we've done or what we're facing, God is always there to turn to. We can give Him all of our troubles and problems, and He will willingly take them on and guide us, helping us fight whatever we're struggling with.
I don't know about you, but when things get tough, I'd much rather turn to the Creator of the heavens and the earth for help and relief, rather than whip my hair back and forth for a supposed confidence boost. 
So here's your NR challenge for this post - I challenge you to forget about what Willow says, and instead turn to the only one who can fight your battles and carry your worries and burdens - Jesus. Realize that, no matter how hard you try, you will never be able to do these things on your own. Your strength should come from God, not anything from a song! You have a choice - turning to the One who made you for strength, or relying on something as silly as whipping your hair back and forth. One option will give you strength, and the other will leave you with a nice case of whiplash. What do you choose?
Are you in?


-Kimber.