All scars tell a story, don’t they? You might notice a scar on my thumb if you ever shake my right hand. When I was younger, I was playing in the woods with my brother when an argument broke out between us. It was a common occurrence during that time of my life, unfortunately. But my deeply seeded anger at the world drove me to find a bottle and smash it against a rock as a threat to him. Stupid idea, I know. One of the pieces of glass came up and slashed right through my thumb.
Our physical scars all tell a story (both good and bad), but so do our internal scars. When we begin to see that, we will see God’s goodness and move forward from hurt and pain.
“Scars” by I Am They
Darkest water and deepest pain
I wouldn’t trade it for anything
‘Cause my brokenness brought me to You
And these wounds are a story You’ll use
I’m not saying to throw yourself into the darkest water and deepest pain to be closer to God. However, most of us have some of that in our life. It’s part of being light in a dark world. The key to these times is being open and honest about the hard times. When we try to hold on to those times or pretend they didn’t happen, we miss the blessing of recognizing that God is taking all these events and making good things come from them (Romans 8:28).
When we learn to accept what we’ve done or what’s been done to us (death in our family, losing our virginity, abusing our spouse, or being emotionally abused by our parents), we can recognize that God will use these and redeem these in our story. A key to therapy is accepting and acknowledging what you went through. When you bring the darkness to light, you can move forward.
“So I’m thankful for the scars
‘Cause without them I wouldn’t know Your heart
And I know they’ll always tell of who You are
So forever I am thankful for the scars”
I can genuinely say, “I’m thankful for the scars.” Not because I went through the pain but because I can see how God’s heart is to forgive and enable me despite my decisions. Your messes don’t disqualify you from serving the King. God looks at your mistakes and says, “Child, I love you, and I still have great things for you.” Your scars tell that story.
Teen pregnancy? Eating disorder? Porn addict? Cutter? Thoughts of suicide? Anxiety? Depression? Perfection? These may be labels you’ve placed on yourself and are ashamed of, but I see beauty in those things. I see an opportunity. I see hope. It goes without saying that if you’re wrestling amid those, know there is a positive end. Having gone through half of those things, I can promise that God is with you and fighting for you.
“Now I’m standing in confidence
With the strength of Your faithfulness
And I’m not who I was before
No, I don’t have to fear anymore”
Part of the healing process for the things you struggle with is believing that what God says is true regardless if it makes sense. About four years ago, my life began falling apart. In truth, it had always been falling apart, but I just started caring about myself enough to see it. At that time, I came face to face with some deeply rooted issues that were causing that anxiety, depression, and many other things.
In conjunction with therapy and the Holy Spirit, I took a stand. I stood in confidence in who I am in Christ. But that wasn’t enough for me. I had to pair that with believing in the strength of God’s faithfulness. God’s faithfulness to his promises to fight my battles is truly the key.
When we decide to start changing our lives, we must acknowledge that we are no longer who we were…even if you don’t see that. While in counseling, I realized I was not the same but still wrestling with many of the same things.
So how can we be both? Simple, we are positionally the righteousness of God through Christ Jesus, but we also have a human nature deeply rooted in our brains. For many of us, rewiring our brains takes time and pain. I think of it as a trajectory like the image below.
In 2 Corinthians 5:21, Paul writes, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” We are the righteousness of God because of Christ. That cannot change. When you become a Christian, you walk into this righteousness even when sinning. You now have a part of you made whole. This is how we can quickly want to serve God with all our hearts and still sin.
Galatians 5:17 says, “For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.” As you can see from the image, continuing in your righteousness and sinning is possible. You will always be at war with the flesh, but as you grow close to Christ, you will narrow that trajectory, and your flesh and righteousness will get closer and closer in union with him.
I can see, I can see
How you delivered me
In Your hands, in Your feet
I found my victory
We are mirrors of Christ. His scars show a beautiful story, just as ours do. When we see his hands and feet, we can constantly be reminded that he was delivered, as will we. So acknowledge your righteousness. You have been made pure and beautiful, no matter where you are or what you’ve done. You are pure, beautiful, and redeemed.
Stop being ashamed of your scars. Accept them, See God in them, and move forward, allowing God’s righteousness to redeem and use them to His glory. Some of you are still in the process and don’t see much hope. I’d encourage you to open up about it to someone. If you don’t have someone, ask God to bring someone into your life or be genuinely open and honest with Him. When we bring things to light, the devil has a more challenging time keeping us from God.
I can see, I can see
How you delivered me
In Your hands, in Your feet
I found my victory
We are mirrors of Christ. His scars show a beautiful story, just as ours do. When we see his hands and feet, we can constantly be reminded that he was delivered, as will we. So acknowledge your righteousness. You have been made pure and beautiful, no matter where you are or what you’ve done. You are pure, beautiful, and redeemed.
Stop being ashamed of your scars. Accept them, See God in them, and move forward, allowing God’s righteousness to redeem and use them to His glory. Some of you are still in the process and don’t see much hope. I’d encourage you to open up about it to someone. If you don’t have someone, ask God to bring someone into your life or be genuinely open and honest with Him. When we bring things to light, the devil has a more challenging time keeping us from God.