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By Jim Palmer
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It was Bob Dylan who wrote and sang, "Behind every beautiful thing there's been some kind of pain." Live enough, and you'll find just how true that is.Life is full of contrasts. All of us experience both good and bad times. We all go through ups and downs, and have mountain and valley seasons. And we all, to some degree, have scars and stories to go with them.
Our scars are often rooted in deep pain and hardship, but beautiful things can be birthed from them when God is involved in the healing process. And we shouldn't be dismissive of this.
If we throw out people's scars, we're throwing out people's stories, and we're discarding parts of them and their lives. We can't only be interested in the neat, pretty parts while dismissing the messy, difficult ones. We can't just skip over the heartaches, sufferings, and disappointments. God certainly doesn't.
We might not realize just how much He actually works in and through the scars and stories of people - including our own.
The Story Behind the Scar
Behind every scar there's a story. And behind every story there's a valuable life.
I have learned not to be dismissive of this because it's often holy ground. I am not implying the pain, suffering, or injustice behind the scars were all necessarily a part of God's plan. Rather, I'm trying to point out there are often hidden gems waiting to be discovered in spite of them. Meaning there is something of great value within these places only He can know and wants to help us find.
What we see through the filter of pain and shadows, He sees through the eyes of love and light. He looks past what seems broken, tarnished, lost, or hopeless and sees the most precious thing of all - a human soul.
He doesn't trivialize our wounds or treat them casually. Quite the contrary. He cares about them because He cares about us. He embraces them because He embraces us. In His deep kindness and compassion, He accepts us where we are.
Jesus is intimately familiar with scars and stories. This is why we can trust Him with ours.
He eternally carries the scars of His crucifixion; not as ongoing source of pain, but as an ever-present reminder of what was accomplished through them.
Those are the scars that once flowed with hallowed blood. Agony, death, and sorrow are a part of the story of Christ, but so are peace, life, and joy. Without them, all of them, there would be no grace or mercy. There'd be no hope for change. His scars are central to our faith. They tell the ultimate story of love and redemption. They are the proof. They're the scars that heal and they speak for themselves.
Seeing Pain from a Different Perspective
Knowing Jesus endured such tremendous suffering on our behalf, knowing His scars were for us, has a way of putting things into a different perspective.
Because He was a man of sorrows, familiar with pain and suffering, He can understand ours too. And because He is our Redeemer, He can help us find redemptive value in our scars and suffering as well.
I don't always understand why things happen. I'll be the first to say I don't have all the answers to the questions. In fact, the deep hardships, adversities, and griefs many of us endure leave me without words sometimes. But I do believe He wants to help us transform our personal pain into something more beautiful and meaningful.
Healing is often a process we have to walk out, but it's a sacred one no less. And while it might not always look like what we expect, we can trust He knows how to help us traverse the painful, difficult places in our lives. He knows who and what we need to navigate this path.
As we discover those hidden gems and the intrinsic value they contain, we'll also discover more about ourselves, and how much we matter to Him. And in time, we'll be able to see the divine beauty within our scars. They'll become a profound reminder of what we've been through and overcome. They will be the proof of our story, and not the sting of our story.
In turn, we'll be able to share that with others. We'll be the evidence of beauty rising from the ashes. We'll be a bright holy spark, shining His light through the guts and the glory of our scars and stories. We'll be a true voice of encouragement to those who are struggling with theirs. We'll be hands and hearts of compassion; lifting people with the love of Jesus.
And more than anything, we will truly come to understand that because of His scars and His story, we all have hope for our own.
Michelle Holderman
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