scars

Scars

I had to shake my head the other day as I listened to my sons going back and forth in a conversation.  They were sitting next to each other comparing scars.  Along with each scar came a story (a few of which may have been slightly enhanced or exaggerated) – battles fought and won, tales of survival, ultimate games, pain endured, bravery and yes, some stupidity.

We all accumulate scars as we go through life.  I’ve got a few scars myself – mine come from a few surgeries, an accident or two, and my general lack of coordination.  A scar is a natural result of the biologic process of wound repair.  Scars gradually fade but never are completely gone.  Even with the treatments of our time – dermabrasion, laser resurfacing, chemical peels, pressure bandages – no scar can ever be completely erased or ever return to its normal uninjured appearance.  Some people bear their scars with pride.  Some try to hide or cover them up.  Emotional scars are very similar to physical scars.  They are a result of emotional wounds.  They fade with time but are never completely gone.  There are those that are seen but quite a few that are unseen.

Physical or emotional – it seems that when people consider their scars the focus is often on the wound…the pain…the suffering.  I wonder if we wouldn’t be better off focusing on the fact that scarring is a natural part of the healing process. 

Scars equal Healing – not wounding. 

Without the scar the wound would always be there – open – a constant feeling of pain – allowing for infection.  What would our physical bodies be without healing and scars?  How would we be emotionally without our scars? 

Scars equal Healing.

Healing – to make healthy, whole, sound; to restore.

When you focus on the healing perhaps scars can be appreciated in a certain way. “Yes, I was wounded; I suffered.  But I healed.  I was restored.”  That’s what the scar can mean and represent….

Healing.

Jeremiah 17:14

Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed.

1 Peter 2:24
Christ himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed.