Scars: When We Live with Wounds

@JeanneTakenaka

I was talking with a friend recently. We both have teenaged boys who are scraping wounds across our mama’s hearts. At times the pain is so raw I still feel like I’m bleeding. 

We both like the song, “Scars” by I Am They. But neither of us feel thankful for the scars right now. As I thought about it, I believe this is okay. In the moment.

Sometimes, we’re still living in a wounded place. We’re still walking in the pain of the strikes against our hearts. 

Scars indicate healing has occurred. Not skin-polishing perfection, but a mending of a wound. Of a heart. Scars are a present reminder of past pain healed by our Father. 

Healing takes time. At least for my friend and me, it’s been a continual turning to the Lord with our questions, our fears, our disappointments, our brokenness over choices our sons are making. 

The pain is still very much alive, and very much stinging our hearts. 

When open wounds afflict our lives—those things that cause pain too deep for words, that leave burning imprints on our hearts and thoughts—we need to accept that it takes time for the healing to occur.

It’s when the wound is open that we make choices . . . 

. . . we can try to avoid or minimize the pain, to ignore it and pretend everything is fine 

. . . or we can trust our Father when the ache is the most intense. 

We can lean into Him, pouring everything into His loving hands. 

Sometimes it seems easier to ignore the pain of an open wound, to gloss over the hurt as if it’s some minor inconvenience when really, it’s festering and hollowing us out. 

Sooner or later, we must own the pain and what caused it. This is the first step for healing to begin. When we’re honest with our Father about the wound and its impact in our lives, that’s when that’s when a good kind of healing begins.

We can’t go from wound to scar in one snap of the finger. It takes time and trust. 

As we seek the Lord, laying ourselves bare before Him—and we do this as many times as the pain scrapes across the wound—we will begin to recognize His comfort, to know His touch on our hearts and in our lives. 

When the wound is still open and sensitive to the grazing of a word or an action—and we can’t see the work God has done—we can trust He is mending.

And though the circumstances that cause the wound may not go away, as we grow in our relationship with our Father . . . 

. . . as we trust Him with the pain and our brokenness . . . 

He begins to heal over the gash, creating a scar.

Scars are beautiful because they give us eyes to see how God has healed, how He walked with us through the pain. That imprinted, imperfect “skin” reminds us of His faithfulness. And, scars remind us of how we’ve grown because we’ve been marked by them.

We will come to the place where the wound doesn’t hurt as much, where the scar protects those tender places from future wounding. 

For those of us who walk with wounds, we can give ourselves grace. We don’t have to put on the “happy Christian” face,” and say everything is great, when really? It’s not.

It’s okay to acknowledge that sometimes, the wounds hurt. A lot. 

Scars take time to form. We’ll come to a place when we look back and see how God’s healing fingerprints mended us. That’s when scars fulfill their purpose.

There will come a time when we thank God for His faithfulness, for His healing in our hearts and lives. Our one-day scars will be a part of our story. And they may provide openings to help others find healing for their wounds. 

Until then, we turn to the One who loves us most and trust Him to walk with us through the pain.

What about you? When have you seen the Lord’s healing in your life? What are your thoughts on how scars?

*****I will be taking a brief break from blogging next week as I attend a writing conference. I’ll see you back here in two weeks!

Click to Tweet: We can’t go from wound to scar in one snap of the finger. It takes time and trust. 

I’m linking up with #TellHisStory and #RaRaLinkup