Beautiful Scars

***I started this post back in January of this year, but I never finished it.  God, once again, brought this topic to mind recently; so here I am finishing this post and ACTUALLY posting it!***

For those of you who know me well, you know I LOVE scars. Every scar is unique.  Every scar has a story. Every scar is part of the person who wears it.  More often than not, if I see someone with a scar, the first question out of my mouth is, “How’d you get that?  I wanna hear the story!”  Some of the stories are funny---  some of the stories are heartbreaking.  I love them all. 

Recently in the PICU, I had the privilege of taking care of a 7 year old boy who taught me a valuable lesson that he will never be aware of.  For this post, we’ll call him “Caleb”.  Caleb was in our unit for a couple of months before he died from his chronic disease.  Caleb had a scar about 3 inches long on the side of his neck from a previous surgery.  It was a big scar!  I spent a lot of time with Caleb’s mom who was frequently at his bedside, and so I asked her about his scar.  She told me as a result of his disease, Caleb had to have frequent surgeries and that was a scar from the most recent surgery.  This scar on Caleb’s neck was one of many scars, but I was completely captivated by it!   

Day in and day out, I would look at the scar and my heart would just break for all he was having to endure.  In those moments/days/weeks I took care of Caleb, the phrase “beautiful scars” continually came to my mind, but I had no idea why.  Although I think scars are AWESOME, I’d never thought to use the word “beautiful” to describe a scar. 

God used the scar on this precious 7 year old boy to show me something about Him.  He showed me that all of our “scars” can be used to bring glory to HIM.  Each of us has a story written by the most brilliant author of all times, and each story is marked by varying degrees of hurt, disappointment, pain…and that comes in all kinds of ways.   Often times those areas of hurt (wounds) leave us with scars…little marks that seem like “imperfections”.   Many times it’s easy to complain about the way it may look to other people or even try to conceal it so other people can’t see our imperfections. 

Think about it…. each scar is a beautiful example of healing from pain!  Each scar is a picture of God’s creativity and handiwork.  Each scar is outward evidence of the unique story God is writing.  God could have chosen to heal our wounds without any outward evidence, but then other people wouldn’t know to ask about the STORY!  Isn’t the STORY the best part of scars?!?!

Maybe it’s time that we look at our scars in a different light…

What if we look at them as what they truly are?
What if we look at them as part of God’s brilliant plan of healing?
What if we look at them as an evidence of what makes me “me”…and what makes you “you”? 

But most of all…

What if we looked at our scars (the evidence of God’s healing in our lives) as a way to brag on our Healer?  In that, we bring Him glory with the little imperfections that make us who we are! 

God’s shown me not to hide my scars out of shame or embarrassment of not being “perfect”, but to willingly share of the story of His love and healing in my heart and life. 

Perhaps the most beautiful scars are the one’s in Jesus’ hands and feet….they tell the beautiful story of how much He loves us!  The story behind those scars definitely bring His Father glory!  It’s only by the wounds which created those scars that we can have a relationship with our Creator and Healer!  When Jesus reappeared to His disciples after the resurrection, He showed them the scars in His hands, feet, and side to say, “Hey!  It’s really me….God is who He says He is!  I AM who I say I AM!” 

Let God turn the wounded places in your heart and the pain you experience into BEAUTIFUL scars that will point other people to Him!  Share your story!