OWN YOUR SCARS

 
We have known scars to mean marks left on the skin from wounds. However, today, I am not referring to those fibrous connective tissues on your skin but the indelible prints from your past. I am talking about the marks from your pains, troubles, unpleasant experiences, rejections, failures, and regrets.

We often see them as bad, maybe and maybe not. We often hide them because we are ashamed of them but today, I want to tell you that they are not all bad. Even those caused by your ignorance, laziness, pride, or what have you; God makes all things work together for our good (Rom 8:28). However, God’s grace and mercies are not excuses for neglecting self-development. In addition, God does that for those who love him and are called according to his purpose and I doubt if that is synonymous with careless living.

That aside, what should I do with my scars?

First, own them. They are your stories. They are your credentials and they validate you. I will rather listen to someone who is successful today but has failed before than he who does not know what it means to fail. It is amazing how real Jesus is. If the scriptures did not document that he cried, some people would have made us feel bad for crying sometimes. Before Jesus could be called a faithful high priest, he had to be tempted in all ways. Now we can touch him with the feelings of our infirmities and he will say, “yes, I have been there and I know how it feels”- Heb 4:14-16. If you don’t have a story then you don’t deserve an audience- Think about Joyce Meyer.

See God in them not as the source or cause but as a father who will never leave you or forsake you.  He is always there in the storm with you, find him. Paul says, tribulation worketh out patience (Rom 5:3,), James alluded to this and added that you should not stand in the way of patience. He says, let patience have her perfect work so that you can be perfect and entire, wanting nothing (James 1:4). You are in it already, so allow God to use it.
Listen, any pain or awful experience that does not make you better has lost its purpose because God often uses them.

Finally, if you have been healed, share them. They are your trophies; they are your testimonials. They mean you have been through a process. They are evidence that you have grown over time. Some of the experiences are meant for those to who God is sending you. Now, you can say, “Dear, I know how it feels, I have failed before, I have been betrayed before, I have lost loved ones before, I have been raped before, I know what it means to be in poverty, I have been abused before, I have had a broken relationship in the past, etc.” I have been there!

So, Jesus said to Peter, when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren… Luke 22:32

And Paul had this to say, “Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God”- 2 Cor 1:3

Beloved, while your story is being written, be comforted by the same comfort I have received from God!

Adedapo Adeogun