Beautiful Scars

I have a whole list of hang-ups.  Things that I don't like about myself.  Things I struggle with on a daily basis.  Things that "push" my buttons.  Doubts. Fears. Wounds. Scars.

Don't we all! 

As a thank you gesture for some volunteering we did this past weekend with Holt International, we were given a CD from Newsong (One True God).  The entire CD has been incredible and it's an understatement to say that listening to it this week has been a blessing.  I think I could literally write an individual blog about nearly every song because the words are that moving.  However, one specific line keeps coming to mind today..

"Not one of us will get through life unscarred.  If no wound upon our body, then our hearts." (from the AMAZING song "Between The Cross and Crown")

The first time I heard the song we were getting ready for church and I thought I was going to end up having church right there in the middle of my bathroom because it caused such a stir in my heart.  The song goes on to talk about how God is sovereign over all and that in the days between the cross and the crown (meaning the days were are living in between Jesus' death/Resurrection and the day that we are united in heaven with him) we have an amazing gift.  That gift is the Holy Spirit.  He is here to be our comforter, counsellor and our breath of Life.  The song talks about the reminder that nothing comes to us without passing through God's hand and that He has a plan. 

Scars are hard.  They can literally change everything around the area.  For those of us that have some type of physical scar that we can visibly see or touch, you know how the skin changes and how it looks different than the skin around it. 

The scars in our hearts are no different.  They change how we view the world.  I could talk ALL day about how they affect us...but that isn't my real focus of this post. 

My focus is this...

What do you do with that scar? 

We all have them.  We all have baggage.  We all have garbage in our lives. 

Do we lay down and become a victim?  Do we let it create a cycle that damages those around us?  Do we become bitter and full of unforgivness. 

Oh, it's so easy to do that........

I've been guilty more times that I want to admit.

However, when we let God intervene with those scars something beautiful happens.

They TRULY heal.  They don't heal just on the surface enough for the world to see.  He can truly heal those wounds from the inside, out.   It isn't easy.  Let me rephrase that, it MAY be excruciating in the process.  It may actually be terrifying, especially if you've REALLY held on to the damage for SO long.   Healing may leave you feeling incredibly vulnerable, but it's only temporary.  Once the healing takes place---the release of bitterness, anger, frustration, loss of "dream", hurt----the scar becomes beautiful. 

It really does. 

You see, it becomes a reminder of how amazing the love of God is.  We can't heal a physical wound on our own.  It's a miracle of science from the creation of God's own hand!  Have you ever really thought about the process of healing from a cut, what actually happens in your body?  Have you thought about the details of the process:  platelets, clots, fibrin, white blood cells, etc..  It's an incredible design of God---one of those things that I tell my kids that proves how intricatly God designed our bodies and that it isn't "just" science.

Our "internal" scars are the same way.  He provides the tools for us to allow that healing to take place.  When a wound heals a scar may remain.  We wrongly think at times that it is ugly, unsightly, and we might even think it means that we aren't healed.   I've thought for so long....

I thought the scars made me "less than".  I thought the scars made me "ugly".  I thought the scars made me ineffective as a witness.  I thought the scars were shameful.

Those are lies.  BOLD FACED lies directly from Satan. 

I've finally stopped listening to them!

Scars are beautiful.  They show where God has done a work in our hearts and provided healing.  It shows the areas that we've allowed God to have control.  We can't heal our own wounds---neither of the heart or in a physical sense.  Only He can do that. 

Even those scars that are still tender are beautiful.  They may only be in the partial healing stage, but a scar shows that the healing has begun! 

Don't listen to the lies of Satan----cling to the power of God to do what we think is impossible.  When the lies threaten to overtake, remember this:

Don't question in the dark what God has revealed in the light! 

When you are in the healing process and KNOW that God is moving you in the right direction, CLING to that light when during the dark times the questions come again. 

Darkness isn't the opposite of light, it's just the absence of light.  TURN  on the light and LIVE there.  It's a beautiful place to be.  Scars and all!