Scars.....

Scars....

Last spring, several of us started taking grief classes at various times and places..we were all still reeling from grief, scarred...wounded...this word resonated in my soul,   Scarred....

"Scar
1.
a mark left by a healed wound, sore, or burn.
2.
a lasting aftereffect of trouble, especially a lasting psychological injury resulting from suffering or trauma.
3.
any blemish remaining as a trace of or resulting from injury or use."

 I realize we all have scars of various sources, physical, emotional, soulful....we look at our physical  ones and remember when we got them, the exact day,  moment and why and how we got them at the time....my husband had one on his hand from holding a piece of kindling and his brother chopping with the ax..not a a good idea...or our various surgeries, our "zorro" moments...our falls, whatever....

Our emotional scars may or may not be so distinct in memory.   It may be an illusion, expectation, unmet need,  a word or time that hurt, sometimes we can pinpoint it and others not so easy...

 The physical or emotion scars may fester, untended, or never heal.  Or they may heal and be a remembrance of a time or event gone by....none of us look forward to earning more scars....for whatever reason....

God says we are engraved on the palm of his hand....did that hurt to have them engraved there,,, there was a price to be paid....

Satan tried to pound them out by the nails in  Christ's hand...but that healed...the disciples saw the prints, the scars...

Our scars can remind us of
Christ's scars for us...he dealt with them, he heals....they still may show , but the healing has taken place...we have to seek that...not doubt...even when  we see them....grab onto that nail scarred hand....

John 3:35
The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands.

 John 20:20
After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

John 20:25
So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

John 20:27
Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

 Those hands, they held everything, the scars, the world,
As Christians, we are held in those hands, our names are written in the palm of His hand,.....

Isaiah 49:16See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever
before me.

Romans8:35-39 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?( Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;
    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future,nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

But, those scars are for us....they were still visible after Christ came back from the grave for those days before he ascended . The scars weren't gone. Thomas needed to see them, feel them...He used them to help others...

Thank YOU for the scars, a reminder that you do heal...maybe now, maybe later.....