Scarred for
by Larry Eddings
Virtually everyone has at least one scar. Check to see if there is one on your body. Somewhere in our normal daily activities we usually experience a cut, accidentally or intentionally. For example, we may pick up a sharp knife and the blade slips through our hand or across a wrist as we drop it and the result is a serious cut.
And too, we may experience a broken bone or a tumor inside our body and it is then necessary for a physician to use a sharp surgical scalpel to cut into the body to repair the damage. There are many ways by which we may have been cut or wounded.
Whatever the cause, or need, for a cut to happen to our bodies, there is designed within our bodies the God-created and God-given provision for healing to happen. God has designed the body to heal itself. The blood that is produced by the bone marrow has within it – with rare exception, the healing properties of an immune system to keep the body healthy.
Immediately following a cut, blood flows. That blood cleanses the wound and at the same time the white cells rush to protect the body from the invasion of bacteria and possible infection. The body then works to close the wound and form a scab to protect it so that healing can happen. Natural healing is a basic part of God’s design and it is depended upon by all who are in the healing professions whose job it is to help the body heal when it cannot heal itself.
One of the end results of experiencing a cut, in addition to the healing that happens, is that there is often left a scar. Depending on the seriousness of the cut, a scar can be barely visible or it can be very obvious and ugly. It may have no impact on the rest of our lives, or, in some cases, it may have dramatic impact on how we can function. Whether great or small, however, a scar is the sign of a healed wound. We may be scarred for life, but the scar is evidence that we still have life. We can live with scars. We may be scarred, but life goes on, because life is more than the scars we wear.
The same principle is true with the unseen scars in our lives. We may be emotionally wounded by experiencing a traumatic event. It may be the death of a loved one or an unkind word spoken by a person who has no intention of wounding, but it does, nevertheless. It may come as the result of watching one or more of our children choose a wrong lifestyle or of a friend betraying a confidence. Wounds happen, sometimes leaving deep and unseen scars inside.
We may even be scarred for life by those inner wounds. Scarred though we may be, life goes on! We may be wounded, but we’re still alive. Life is far more than the inner or outer scars we pick up as we go through life.
Scars can serve as a constant reminder that God has brought me through. I am a survivor. Seen on the body, they are a visible reminder to me that I have a healed wound and I am alive. Unseen within the body, they are still a reminder that, even though the issue and resulting wound may or may not be healed, it has not killed me. I’m still alive to talk about it.
The Apostle Paul reminds us that we have this treasure [this light and life of God] in clay pots or “jars of clay.” [II Corinthians 4:7-10] These fragile lives of ours can be hurt and even broken. Regardless of what happens to these bodies and souls of ours, when we are in Jesus, we discover that the scars and wounds of our lives matter very little. They do not determine the quality and value of our lives.
What really matters is that, as Believers in Jesus, our lives are “hidden with Christ in God” [Colossians 3:3]. And our various scars, visible or not, are nothing compared to his. Jesus was scarred when he hung on the cross – ugly, deep scars that disfigured his face and body, but his scars are a reminder to us that there is life after scars – even scars that result in death. God’s word reminds us that “by his wounds, we are healed.” [I Peter 2:24]
Do you have physical and/or emotional scars in your life? Check to see. Then give praise to God! You’re still alive! He brought you through! Even better, you’re alive in Jesus! Because of his scars - and stripes and beatings and bleeding and dying and rising from the dead, you and I are alive – forever! Compared to that, what’s a little wound in our emotions or a little scrape on our bodies?
Virtually everyone has at least one scar. Check to see if there is one on your body. Somewhere in our normal daily activities we usually experience a cut, accidentally or intentionally. For example, we may pick up a sharp knife and the blade slips through our hand or across a wrist as we drop it and the result is a serious cut.
And too, we may experience a broken bone or a tumor inside our body and it is then necessary for a physician to use a sharp surgical scalpel to cut into the body to repair the damage. There are many ways by which we may have been cut or wounded.
Whatever the cause, or need, for a cut to happen to our bodies, there is designed within our bodies the God-created and God-given provision for healing to happen. God has designed the body to heal itself. The blood that is produced by the bone marrow has within it – with rare exception, the healing properties of an immune system to keep the body healthy.
Immediately following a cut, blood flows. That blood cleanses the wound and at the same time the white cells rush to protect the body from the invasion of bacteria and possible infection. The body then works to close the wound and form a scab to protect it so that healing can happen. Natural healing is a basic part of God’s design and it is depended upon by all who are in the healing professions whose job it is to help the body heal when it cannot heal itself.
One of the end results of experiencing a cut, in addition to the healing that happens, is that there is often left a scar. Depending on the seriousness of the cut, a scar can be barely visible or it can be very obvious and ugly. It may have no impact on the rest of our lives, or, in some cases, it may have dramatic impact on how we can function. Whether great or small, however, a scar is the sign of a healed wound. We may be scarred for life, but the scar is evidence that we still have life. We can live with scars. We may be scarred, but life goes on, because life is more than the scars we wear.
The same principle is true with the unseen scars in our lives. We may be emotionally wounded by experiencing a traumatic event. It may be the death of a loved one or an unkind word spoken by a person who has no intention of wounding, but it does, nevertheless. It may come as the result of watching one or more of our children choose a wrong lifestyle or of a friend betraying a confidence. Wounds happen, sometimes leaving deep and unseen scars inside.
We may even be scarred for life by those inner wounds. Scarred though we may be, life goes on! We may be wounded, but we’re still alive. Life is far more than the inner or outer scars we pick up as we go through life.
Scars can serve as a constant reminder that God has brought me through. I am a survivor. Seen on the body, they are a visible reminder to me that I have a healed wound and I am alive. Unseen within the body, they are still a reminder that, even though the issue and resulting wound may or may not be healed, it has not killed me. I’m still alive to talk about it.
The Apostle Paul reminds us that we have this treasure [this light and life of God] in clay pots or “jars of clay.” [II Corinthians 4:7-10] These fragile lives of ours can be hurt and even broken. Regardless of what happens to these bodies and souls of ours, when we are in Jesus, we discover that the scars and wounds of our lives matter very little. They do not determine the quality and value of our lives.
What really matters is that, as Believers in Jesus, our lives are “hidden with Christ in God” [Colossians 3:3]. And our various scars, visible or not, are nothing compared to his. Jesus was scarred when he hung on the cross – ugly, deep scars that disfigured his face and body, but his scars are a reminder to us that there is life after scars – even scars that result in death. God’s word reminds us that “by his wounds, we are healed.” [I Peter 2:24]
Do you have physical and/or emotional scars in your life? Check to see. Then give praise to God! You’re still alive! He brought you through! Even better, you’re alive in Jesus! Because of his scars - and stripes and beatings and bleeding and dying and rising from the dead, you and I are alive – forever! Compared to that, what’s a little wound in our emotions or a little scrape on our bodies?
