Scars

What kind of scars do you carry with you? Physical, emotional, psychological, verbal? One of each? What do those scars do to you? Do they keep opening up and bleeding like an unhealing wound making life miserable, or have they healed to the point of not bleeding any more, but are still noticeable?

I have a physical scar on my belly button from a tubal pregnancy I had several years ago. Recently it began itching for a few days and I was putting lotion on it to take the itch away. At the same time, I was thanking God for my itchy scar because it was a reminder to me that although that baby was never born into this world, it was a growing life inside me and I will find out all about that life whenever I enter the place where there will be no more scars ever. I'm thankful for that scar because that was a time in my life that brought me closer to my Maker. I actually smile now when I see my scar instead of get sad.

Scars may never disappear, but some can become less noticeable. You can always forgive but you don't have to forget. Scars are reminders that there were times that something went wrong, but if we didn't die from it, and if we found help from God, we were made stronger. They are there to remind us of those times so we never forget, and it helps keep us humble.

The apostle Paul went through a ton of things that left tons of scars on him, but he dealt with them in amazing ways. Singing while in jail? Beaten almost to death! Surviving shipwrecks and a snake bite, and slander, and more. I'll leave you with what he says about his scars in Galatians 6:17, the amplified bible version. Although he is talking about physical scars, I think it applies to those verbal, emotional, and psychological scars, also--the very last phrase is very exciting!:

From now on let no person trouble me [by making it necessary for me to vindicate my apostolic authority and the divine truth of my Gospel], for I bear on my body the [brand] marks of the Lord Jesus [the wounds, scars, and other outward evidence of persecutions--these testify to His ownership of me]!