Every Scar Tells A Story
There is a common saying you might have heard: “Every scar tells a story.”
For example, I have a scar on my thigh from when I was a kid. I tried to do a wheelie on my bike, but I was unsuccessful and landed on my handlebars.
I have a scar on my knee from when I had knee surgery—a patella debridement—in my 20s.
I haven’t checked, but I’m pretty sure that if I look closely enough, I can still see the incision marks from when I had my gallbladder removed.
There are plenty of details I didn’t go into in these stories above, but each scar tells a story.
However, not every scar is physical. We have all encountered things in our lives that have left their mark on us. Sometimes we don’t tell those stories, but instead we live them out.
For example, when I was in high school, my family moved. I was a pretty shy kid and had a hard time making friends at my new school. While I don’t tell that story often, it dramatically impacted how I did youth ministry for years. Because of that time in my life, I noticed the kids who were sitting alone. I noticed the outsiders and did whatever I could to help them connect.
God wants to use our scars to impact people for Him.
Let’s look at the story of Joseph (Genesis 37–50). It’s a long story, but the summary is this: Joseph encountered many obstacles—he was sold into slavery and accused of crimes he didn’t commit. Yet despite these hardships, God used them for good. Joseph was continually promoted and given oversight of different things until he ultimately found himself in charge of all of Pharaoh’s affairs in Egypt. He ended up guiding not only Egypt, but also his own family, through a famine. (I encourage you to read the full story—my summary doesn’t do it justice.)
Joseph summarizes his story in Genesis 50:20 with these words
” As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”
God wants to use our scars to impact people for Him. The hard part is that there are times when that seems impossible to us. Joseph had no idea, when he was going through those difficult times, what God had planned for his future. When I was in high school, I had no idea how much that year would shape how I saw and interacted with people.
I want to give us a couple of verses that we can hold tightly to when it’s difficult to see how God can use our scars to impact others:
Romans 8:28: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
Philippians 1:6: “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
Lamentations 3:22–23: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
In times when it’s hard to see, remember these verses. Perhaps even sing some of the lines of our closing hymn to yourself as praise to God, reminding to remind yourself of who He is:
“Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father, there is no shadow of turning with Thee.”
“Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see; all I have needed Thy hand hath provided. Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!”
Most of all, we need to remind ourselves of the story the wounds of Jesus tell (John 20:24–29). They tell the story of a God who loved His creation so much that He sent His Son to die for their sins so that they could have a restored relationship with Him. His would tell the story of Gods faithfulness
Adam