April 11th: Scars

We should be willing to show off our scars that have created the roadmap that has brought us to every mile marker in life.

It was a normal day for us at the beach with our family and friends at the end of this past summer. My husband, our 9 year old daughter, myself and few other family members were out in the water ducking under and over waves when all of a sudden I hear my daughter come up screaming next to me. I look over and she’s holding her arm screaming that she had been bit! I go into full panic mode and yell for my husband who immediately picks her up and gets her to the shore. He starts peeling these long, purple strands from her arm. I stopped looking and counting after the fifth one he peeled off. She had been stung by, what we thought at the time, a jellyfish. Come to find out later she had actually swam into a rather large Man of War and it’s tentacles had wrapped themselves around her arm.  Multiple doctor appointments, two missed days of school, bursting blisters from the tentacles and a round of antibiotics later and our daughter was left with some pretty angry looking wounds. Wounds, that over time, have turned into a road map of scars going from her elbow down to her wrist.

It’s been six months since she was stung and those scars are still very noticeable. She recently had a kid in her class tell her that her scars were scary looking. To which my daughter got rightfully upset and asked if she could wear a jacket to school to cover them up until they go away so no one would ask her about them anymore. She said she wanted to hide the scars because they made her feel different and she didn’t want people to see such an “ugly” thing on her. It broke my heart but that moment also birthed such a revelation. How could this amazing, bright, wonderful child think any part of her was ugly? She is treasured and loved so completely. She was made on purpose for a purpose and with everything I had in me as her parent I was going to make sure she knew that. I cupped her face and made her look at me and told her nothing could ever make her ugly. That she is beautiful and I was so proud of her for being such a strong kid.

And then it hit me. This is exactly how our Father sees us. He sees those scars that are both easily seen and deeply hidden. He not only sees them but he knows how you came by each and every one. He sees the deep cuts left on your heart by a cruel word or a false accusation. He sees the still angry marks that were self-inflicted or left by a surgeons knife after a life-saving operation. Our all-powerful, all knowing God sees them all and calls them beautiful. He holds your face in His hands and pulls you to Him saying “I am so proud of you my beautiful child”.

After Jesus’ crucifixion and after He had risen from the dead, he appeared to his disciples. John 20:20 “As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord”! Jesus wasn’t ashamed of his scars. It’s such a small gesture but carries such a tremendous message. We should be willing to show off our scars that have created the roadmap that has brought us to every mile marker in life. Just as the disciples were filled with joy when they saw Jesus’ scars, we should be just as accepting when others reveal their precious marks to us. Jesus’ scars preached a powerful story that no one could deny. His scars were a representation that all things work together for the good who love the Lord.

Brothers and sisters, what testimony is waiting to be shared in your scars? Do not be ashamed of those marks, the seen and the unseen ones. Our scars are not there to remind us that we have been hurt but to remind us that we have been healed.

*written by Krissy Hairston