(Today’s my birthday!): Scars Aren’t Always Bad.

Scars, I’m loaded with them.  I can tell you the story of each one.  One that is especially memorable is on my left forearm.  I was installing vinyl tiles at our cabin.  (…and Praise God we sold that money pit.)   I was on the last tile and sliced into my arm with the box cutter.  A few hours later I had four stitches and a scar. 

In 2nd grade I skipped school—Yes, I skipped school in the second grade.  I was a bit of a handful.  When I opened the storm door a gust of wind caught it.  I put my left hand up to stop the door.  My arm broke through the glass up to my elbow.  There was blood, lots of blood.  Lesson learned:  Don’t use your hand to stop fast moving glass.   Remember I was in the 2nd grade and cleaver enough to cut classes. 

Most of us carry scars on our body and like me you can recall all the details.  You see the scars and think, oh yeah, that was when—blah, blah, blah happened.  Some scars are visible, but others are hidden deep within, too painful to share.  So, how do we handle the scars in our life?  Do we cork up the pain?  Pretend the scars aren’t there.

 What do you think of this statement? Scars aren’t always bad.  You may disagree.  After all the very word scar implies imperfection, a defect of some kind.  Also, we know, where there’s a scar at some point there was pain.   So how can a scar be a good thing?   Scars are good when they are a reminder of how far you’ve come, but bad when they make you a prisoner of your past.

Jesus carries the defect and pain of scars.  In fact, in heaven the only imperfection that we will see are the scars on Jesus’s hands, feet, and side.   These scars will be a reminder to the population of heaven—that the Lamb was slain.  Why did he willingly take the pain and the forever scars?  He did it to remove my scars—my imperfections—my flaws—my past.  They are gone—erased—forever.   

In Revelations 5:6-10 it says, And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne…stood a Lamb as though it had been slain…He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne…when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying:

“You are worthy to take the scroll,

And to open its seals;

For You were slain,

And have redeemed us to God by Your blood

Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,

And have made us kings and priests to our God;

And we shall reign on the earth.” (NKJV)

All my scars, the ones I see and the ones hidden away will one day be forever erased.  I’ll remember them NO MORE.  But for now, they remind me how far I’ve come.

(Today’s my birthday!):  Scars Aren’t Always Bad.

By Beverly Roberts