Scars

I remember my first willful act of disobedience. I was 3 or 4 and I wanted a piece of cheese.  Leave it to me to let food get me in trouble. :)  I wanted some block cheese and even though my Mom told me that she would cut some for me in just a minute, I couldn't wait. Geez, with the patience I have now I can only imagine what I was like as a 4 year old! Anyway, I took it upon myself to cut that cheese all by myself and took a big ol' chunk of my thumb with it, too. Not only did I majorly cut my thumb, I had to go get a tetanus shot as well. I still bear the scar on my left thumb from that experience. I am tellin' ya, when I get in trouble, I do it big.

The first ticket I ever got happened on my way home during Christmas break my first year of college. Most people get a warning. A slap on the wrist. Not me. They took my license. For real, y'all. My Christmas money that year paid the town budget for New Augusta, Ms. I won't lie, I still have ill feelings towards that town. All 2.3 miles of it.

What I am getting at is that I have suffered some consequences in my day. Some people seem to get away with everything. Do youknow those people? Even as I say that I know that I have been the recipient of far more grace and mercy in my life than I deserve. And yet, I still have scars. Physical scars. Emotional scars. Spiritual scars. I bet you have some too. Whether self-inflicted or the result of someone else's sin in your life, we all bear scars.  Sometimes the enemy has a way of using those scars to remind us of dark places. To maybe even treat them more like scabs than scars and rip them open revealing fresh pain. To make us think we haven't experienced healing at all. And sometimes our Heavenly Father reminds us of our scars to gently jog our memory of the healing He has done in our life. We may always have the scars as reminders in this life, but the pain they inflicted can no longer hurt us.

I know this is a very strange night before Valentine's Day post, but for some reason I just felt like I needed to share what God spoke to me today. This past week I've been reminded of some of my emotional and spiritual scars. In the same way that we often find ourselves comparing physical scars and injuries with others, I've found myself listing my scars in my head. Feeling overwhelmed by them. Being tempted to be defeated by them.

Then, Josh shared this verse this morning, "See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me."  Isaiah 49:16


And my heart that was so overwhelmed by my scars suddenly became overwhelmed by the scars that my Savior bears. When Jesus was nailed to the cross He would forever bear the scars that His love for me cost. And His scars cover my scars.