Sacred SCARS…
Two years ago, my husband and I placed our youngest son in a small wooden coffin. It is a hard day on anyone when someone they love is closed off into a dark space and lowered into the ground. It’s harder when you as a parent become fixated on a tiny box that holds a frame that seemed in a moments breath, a lifetime of memories and plans were torn from you and crushed into a million pieces.
That sad day has left an obvious scar on my heart. That day has also created a habit of remembering The Sacred Scars that were willingly accepted by my Savior.
I do not say this flippantly, it has become the story of my life. It has become the daily reality intertwined with the tragic memory of my child’s death. It is also the tragic death of my Savior that even allows me to stand assured that this life is not the end and that grave cannot hold me captive under it’s bitter grip. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it until my body too is put in the ground…had it not been for the work on the cross, for the willing act of the sacrifice He made, for the hope He instilled because of His resurrection…I would have jumped in the grave with my little boy and said goodbye, because my scars run that deep with pain and loss.
But because of the worth He finds in me, I remain…to reveal His Sacred Scars. He uses those of us willing to accept the affliction, the heartache, the pain, the humiliation to draw others into His Scars.
“Job replied, “…Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”
Job 2:10
We tend to have a natural affinity to an individual who willingly places our needs above their own, don’t we?
That’s exactly what Jesus did! Whether or not you believe Jesus to be the Savior of this world, He willingly sacrificed Himself because of His overwhelming love for you.
The cross took Jesus only into the realm in which He claimed victory over death. Was it painful? We couldn’t even fathom! On so many dimensions we can make assumptions of how the Father felt as He had to forsake His very likeness in human form; we can read and study about the torture techniques used to crucify Jesus, but do you ever wonder if you would be able to love Him, trust Him, without this act?
It is the ultimate sacrifice. It takes each of our painful circumstances that have left the scars we shamefully disguise, or boldly reveal and causes us to hold them to the Scars that overcome. He asks us to continue growing in grace as we allow our scars to point to His Sacred Scars.
There is not one scar out there that resembles the scars we will see on the hands of Jesus. There is not one scar out there that is so ugly, so painful, so deep, so shameful that God can’t heal it. If you type “scar” in your search engine bar, the following explanation appears…
“Scars result from the biological process of wound repair in the skin, as well as in other organs and tissues in the body. Thus, scarring is a natural part of the healing process.”
“Scarring is a natural part of the healing process.” He designed our bodies with an innate ability to repair; but really, He knew that only His Sacred Scars would be able to heal the human heart.
“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.”
Isaiah 53:5
Revealing scars is not easy. It’s vulnerable. It is potentially setting yourself up for rejection and failure, more heartache and pain, loneliness and abandonment. But then again, it can be life giving to another human! It can reveal to another human soul that hope remains despite the body you placed in the grave; redemption is in reach despite the shame one feels bound by; relief is in the future despite the despair that is worn now; and wholeness is God’s purpose for you despite your brokenness in the present.
“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve—-to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.”
Isaiah 61:1-3
Do your scars “display His splendor”? I’ve found that tremendous growth continues despite the scars. Like the redwoods I hiked through…they were wounded and scarred yet continued to tower majestically, even over healthy unscarred trees. I challenge you to wear your scars boldly to proclaim His Scars that have the power to reclaim life. I challenge you to display your scars so people will ask and you can gloat over the the Sacred Scars that sustain the heart within you. I challenge you to remember when life seems so hard and you feel like every scar you wear is weighing you down, that Jesus wears Sacred Scars that are capable of overcoming and repurposing the scars you bear…there will be a day when the only Scars left will be the only thing we worship. There will be a day when hopefully you are drawn into the presence of the Lord and when given the opportunity to see and touch His Sacred Scars you will be left in awe and singing the Hallelujah He deserves. There will be a day when you bear your scars no more and they will be replaced with a crown.
“Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.”
James 1:12