Beautiful Scars

I have said that I believe when something bothers or offends us (or others) it is because there is something about the situation or the words that were spoken that are going up against what we know to be true or most believe to be true and that the Spirit of God in us is trying to get us to acknowledge that something isn't right. The Spirit in us needs to either refute the lie immediately so that we don't internalize it or help us to see and understand something about ourselves so that we can be healed.

I have also said that I believe we have lost the language of lament (thank you Esther Fleece for opening my eyes to this beautiful conversation) because we don't want to be seen as whiny or ungrateful and that we cover our wounds with Scripture because we have taken some verses to an unhealthy extreme. God never once asks us to pretend something isn't painful, nor does He expect or ask us to fake it til we make it. The Lord is not an emotionless being and since we are created in His image, we are meant to feel and show emotion as well.

All that said, at the end of my current daily devotional, there is always a quote from some other source. Today's quote not only spoke to the deepest places in my heart, but also reinforces the two thoughts above. I pray that this quote blesses you as much as it did me. 

Why did Jesus still have wounds on His risen body? The traditional answer is that the

wounds proved it was really he and not an imposter....But I believe the wounds had a 

deeper meaning with radically transforming implications that affect us through the 

ages. I believe the wounds were the sure sign that the eternal God through Jesus has

never and will never ignore, negate, minimize, or transcend the signficance of human

woundedness.  ~ Flora Slosson Wuellner, Feed My Shepherds  (emphasis mine)

Think about that for just a moment. If Jesus rose from the dead with His scars, will we rise to eternal life with ours? And if we do, when He is wiping every tear from our eyes, will He be touching each wound to heal it perfectly but still leave us with the mark of how we shared in His suffering and a reminder of His sufficient grace that saw us through until we were safely in His presence for eternity? And if that is true, can we finally stop pretending that everything is okay, that things don't hurt, that we are actually more wounded than we are willing to admit, and give Him the access He needs to redeem what He wants to redeem so that we can effectively be His hands and feet to those around us?

I am convinced that our wounds matter. I am certain that the things that hurt us, harm us, and threaten to destroy us, have a purpose. God doesn't ask us to pull up our boot-straps and just move on, that would be society. And all that does is attempt to minimize our need of the only one that can save us. We might have accepted Him into our hearts as Lord and Savior a while ago, but it's time we stop trying to save ourselves until we finally make it home. He's never going to tire of coming to our rescue and it's time we stop making Him chase us down to do it.