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Hi Friends, my last article is now continued [If you have not done so, you may wish to quickly read it first and then return to this one]
Job 24:12 “The dying groan in the city, and the souls of the wounded cry out, yet God does not charge them with wrong.” This scripture talks of the cries of those wounded by life. There is a difference between a “wound” and a “scar”.
- A wound is still open, vulnerable to disease, not yet fully healed, often very painful.
- A scar is that which is fully healed but a reminder of that former condition and may be with us for the rest of our life. Not as a vulnerability but as am empowerment to minister life into others.
Scars are painless! Scar tissue becomes dead to pain. Scar tissue doesn’t react, it doesn’t recoil from another’s touch. It has been anaesthetised.
Friends we have a choice:
- We retain our wounds as vulnerable, unhealed areas of life that attract disease and ultimately begin to smell and become repugnant to others (bitterness will do that to you). Wounds left unhealed alienate us from others as our lives become more and more of that which others feel uncomfortable about being around. There is a foul aroma that is negative, critical, resentful that repels those who come into our world. Our unhealed wounds have made us leprous relationally.
- Our second option is that, we take our wounds to the cross and gain a revelation of how that pain can become redemptive in the lives of others. As we thank God for His grace, and love, we dedicate ourselves to pouring our lives into others, and God’s healing restorative work is applied: the wound becomes a scar. That scar now is a symbol of one healed, not of one raw and exposed: it is now a badge of honour and the source of identifying with the need of others.
People can see your scar and instantly know you can identify. But because it is now healed, they know you also must have found some answers. Some have said that going through the fire honours God. Not true! Going through the fire and not smelling like smoke, honours God! Your scar becomes a declaration of hope to those still struggling with their own woundedness.
It is only the selfless pouring out of His love, compassion, and grace to others that empowers us, within ourselves, to walk in ongoing joy and freedom.
Friends, a wound or a scar: which one do you carry? One is a weight that comes in upon us as a cloud and the other is a source of fulfilment and purpose as we live a redemptive life for the sake of others.
Love & God bless,
David
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