When I was 11 years old I had open-heart surgery, and at 27 I had a pacemaker implanted. Both of these surgeries left scars on my body, scars that remind me of the hurt I went through. Let’s be real, when you have your sternum sawed in half that’s painful, and when you have an object put in your body where something isn’t supposed to be, that will cause some pain too.
Yet, the pain isn’t the only thing I remember, it is a part of it and will always be, but I also remember and am thankful for the very good things that came from those scars. Those scars were necessary for the healing I needed and are visible reminders of God's redemption in my life.
Scars. We all have them and the beauty of God is that our scars don’t have to remind us only of hurt, but can remind us of redemption.
I find it interesting that after Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to His disciples His glorified body still had the scars from His crucifixion. Remember when Jesus first appeared to His disciples and “…showed them his hands and side…” (John 20:20)?
Why would God do that? Could it have been just for His disciples or is there something more here?
The scars that Jesus had on His body not only show He really is the resurrected Lord who conquered the grave, but they’re also a deep reminder to us about the love and redemption that came through an excruciating sacrifice. Perhaps this too is why God made sure His Son still had those scars—even on His glorified body.
Scars don’t have to only remind us of pain, but they can be a sign of God’s redemption and healing in our lives. A time where we drew deeper from the well that is Jesus, a time where we learned what peace really feels like, a time where self-sufficiency went out the door and we learned about the power of Christ in our weakness, a time where we found freedom from a sinful addiction or attitude.
This starts with surrender, trust, and a willingness to let God use those scars to draw us deeper into Him and expand our witness to the world.
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