Beautiful Scars?

Recently, I was reminded of a conversation I had with some friends after listening to a sermon. 

The pastor talked about “beautiful scars” of life. Essentially he was saying that the scars we all carry can be a reflection of the love and grace of Jesus. He shared that Jesus ultimately was scarred for us and that in following Him, we will get scarred by living in a broken world.

If we are wise and steward them well, those scars become a beautiful reflection of our Heavenly Fathers love for us. 

We were on the porch later that night pontificating about life and faith and that came up. We all heard that differently. I don’t remember where I was at the time, but I know where I am now. Let’s just say I resonate with that thought. 

Scars are an interesting thing. I’ve accumulated a few over the years you can see and a whole bunch you can’t. The ones you can’t see seem to hurt more than the others. The inside scars are harder to see than the exterior scars, but seemingly carry more hurt.

Was talking about this with my men's group and all of them had some great thoughts. One of those was that there is a difference between wounds and scars. Scars are the healed up version of a wound. Dang. That’ll make you think. 

Healing wounds takes time, vulnerability, and hope. Time to regularly reflect, pray, and give it to Him is essential into turning a wound into a scar.

This life in a broken world can definitely accumulate some wounds and scars. Some exterior and some interior, but He has a way of using those to remind us of His grace and goodness. That does not mean separation from the pain that caused it, it means trusting that He can use even the ugliest of things in ways we might not fully understand. I'm not a robot, I have feelings, so that part can be a tough course to maneuver and you can't do it alone.

The Lord is generous enough to leverage those to help us learn more about Him and lean into Him more. Let’s not forget Jesus was wounded for us. 

But he was pierced for our transgressions,

    he was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was on him,

    and by his wounds we are healed.

Isaiah 53:5

We serve a Savior that can relate. Disappointment. Check. Frustration. Check. Suffering. Check. Purpose and hope from pain… check. All the more reason you can lean into Jesus as you consider your wounds and your scars. 

I don’t know where 2024 has led you, but I know for me it’s added some scars to my collection. And in a uniquely strange way, I’m grateful for them and want to carry them in such a way that they reflect the grace and love of Jesus. 

Praying you can do the same. Let’s allow those scars of 2024 to be a beautiful reminder that He is not done with us yet and His plans are perfect. 

Onward.