“I picture God focusing steadily on the object of repair. One stitch follows another. It takes time. I picture painful penetrations of the healing needle. …I’m quite sure if my healing processes had been painless, I would have relapsed.” ~Beth Moore, “Jesus, 90 Days with the One and Only”
I have scars. Scars that I rarely pay attention to. After my reading this morning, I began to ponder what lessons I have learned from my scars. Here are a few:
- scar on forehead: it’s not a good idea to run down the stairs, full speed, not paying attention
- scar on side: spinning around with a fork in your hand is unwise, for one may fall and gouge themselves
- scar on chin: clearly a 9 year old shouldn’t bathe a 2 year old. Someone may slip and fall and bust their chin wide open, requiring stitches that the father just sticks a band-aid on, scar resulting in becoming a keloid, thus giving said
child an unnecessary insecurity…i digress
child an unnecessary insecurity…i digressI have a c-section scar. There was a cyst that needed to be removed and the dr’s chose not to go in laproscopically. Because of the severeness of the surgery, my recovery took six weeks. No lifting, bending, stretching, sudden movements. Nothing but being still and gradually building your strength up. It was important to not rush the healing process because my body needed that time to properly heal. If I rushed, then I would have done more damage to my body. During this time, I learned patience and self-control…and really how to relax and let things just ‘be’.
Another scar that I have is on my ankle. Underneath this scar is a plate and 8 screws. I broke my leg and dislocated my ankle…requiring surgery. Of all my scars, this one means the most to me. You see, at this particular point in my life, I was running from God and I was getting good at it. Playing church, saying what needed to be said…or not said. I had already confessed a lot of things to my parents, but I was not willing to turn EVERYTHING over to the Lord. Still going through the motions. Being a good girl (the one that the important people saw). Even though I knew He was trying to get my attention, I ignored Him. I was golden, until that day. Home, by myself, I fell and my life forever changed. Because of the surgery, God had my full and undivided attention. He used my mom and one of my spiritual moms to minister to me. I couldn’t go anywhere…I couldn’t ignore Him. It’s hard to ignore Someone when you can’t move. I had to apologize to God. I had to face my sin…I couldn’t turn away. He forgave me. He healed me. He reminded me that before the Earth was formed, He knew me, so Who did I think I was fooling?
I am thankful for my scars. They were painful. I am thankful for the pain, for without the pain I may still be running…
Do you have scars?
I had to laugh out loud as I read your post and looked back over the years. I have a scar on my forehead as well. It turns out that trying to race my little brother around a sharp corner wasn’t such a good idea. I also recall that some nasty scars my appear when an inexperienced 15 year old attempts to shave her legs for the first time!
As I read, I couldn’t help but think about a few of the emotional scars I’ve experienced as well. Cruel words or betrayal often leave invisible scars. Though those injuries aren’t fresh, the scars yet remain.
Like you, I’m learning to be thankful for those scars. I learned much needed lessons as a result of them and God has used them to get my attention as well.
Thanks for sharing your insight in this great post. I really enjoyed it!