When I was 12 I went bike riding with some friends, and about half way through our ride I crashed my bike, the result was two black eyes and a face that was a huge scab on one side, and to this day I still have a scar above my left eye! Not a happy memory, but I started thinking about that this morning, and began thinking what about the "good" scars, the ones that change our very being? I thought of soldiers who fight to defend our freedom...many of them come back from war with scars, ones they are proud to sport, knowing they received them defending this beautiful country! I thought about stretch marks...beauty at its best, without those marks you wouldn't have one of the things you cherish most...children! If we could take a peek at the hearts of people around us we would see scars on each of them, yes and a lot of those experiences have been hard ones, sickness, death, violation, brokenness, loneliness, depression, the list goes on and on! I want you for one second to look at it this way, those scars have changed you, and we can dwell on the hardship of each one or we can turn those things around to change so we are able to help others, after all that is why God allowed those scars to come, in them is born empathy, compassion, understanding, forgiveness, long suffering and love.
When a Gardener plants his crop it doesn't just magically appear in a matter of hours or days, it takes time and work, those plants have to endure rain, wind, and intense sunshine, but in the end they grow and produce fruit. These scars are one way God produces the fruit of the spirit in our lives.
Our humanness needs to be changed in order for God to perform through us that which we are called to do! Next time you see those scars, and feel the memories of the pain remember God is perfecting us, and trying to use those scars to change us..
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