ApprehendingGrace.com

I saw billboard the other day – “Practically Scarless” it promised in large letters. It carried the picture a woman in a bikini caressing her abdomen – she was so proud of the perfect body she had – if there were scars on her body, they were too small to notice. The billboard was advertising some kind of “practically scarless” surgery. Quite frankly, I found it a bit offensive.

The extreme emphasis on physical perfection in our society isn’t healthy. It creates incredible insecurity in young girls that grows to maturity as they become young women. It portrays beauty as an external thing, when true beauty is found in how we live and love. Besides…

I like my scars! I’ve got a number of them on my body, and they serve as reminders to me of God’s tremendous goodness!

I have a small scar on my hand. There is absolutely no reason I have this scar. Phil and I had taken his mom and aunt with us on vacation to Cozumel, Mexico. There was a mix-up with the rooms (as in the hotel didn’t have the reserved rooms and there were none available on the island). While we tried to sort things out, Gladys and Velma went and sat poolside at the outdoor bar. Phil eventually joined them while I waited at the front desk. When I joined them, I cut a corner too close as I entered the open air bar and scraped my hand against a wicker chair. No big deal, right? Right. My hand was cut and bleeding a bit, but nothing a napkin and some pressure couldn’t stop. A few band-aids and a few days later I had a small scab that eventually healed – into a scar that is still with me today. It’s about an inch long on the back of my left hand. Which means I can see it every time I look down at my hands when I’m typing. And I type a lot. This scar is an “imperfection” that reminds me of the many vacations we’ve been blessed to enjoy, which reminds me to be thankful. It also reminds me of the great mother-in-law Gladys was…which reminds me how much Phil misses his mom, which reminds me to pray for him.

Thank You, Lord, for giving us such wonderful times together. Thank You that we were able to share many of those times with Gladys and Velma. Lord, draw near to Phil when he misses his mama. Comfort him and bless him.

I have a rather large and ugly scar on my right fore arm. It’s the result of two surgeries that were required to put an elbow back together that the doctor described as looking like someone had taken a sledge hammer to it. Shattered as it was, my elbow required plates and screws to hold the pieces of bone in place while they healed. Fifteen months later the plates and screws were removed to provide me with greater movement and use of my arm. This was a hard one – a difficult time during which I spent three months living in a dark room because the pain meds made light unbearable. But it was during those long dark nights that God met me in a more tangible way than He ever had before or has since. I clearly remember one night. Phil was sleeping on the couch to be near me. (I was so thankful we had a reclining chair for me to live in during those months.) I was awake and we had worship music playing softly. I so wanted to wake Phil but he was getting precious little sleep as it was. So I began to pray – to cry out to God in my pain and loneliness and fear. And the presence of God became so strong in that room – I reached out with my good arm believing I would physically touch Him. Of course, I didn’t, but what an awesome thing it was.

When I see the scar on my arm, I remember God’s awesome presence that night. I also remember that three doctors told me I’d be lucky to have 50% use of my arm after it healed and I would probably live with pain. I have 95% and essentially no pain. My scar is a beautiful reminder of God’s nearness and a beautiful testimony of His power.

Finally, there are the internal scars we all have. Rejections. Disappointments. Accusations thrown against us and believed by others. These scars can be the ugliest or the most beautiful. They are the ugliest when we allow them to fester or solidify – that is develop poisonous roots or harden our hearts. When my elbow was healing, the doctor had me massage it many times a day. It hurt to massage it, but he assured me that it was this massaging that would stop the buildup of hard scar tissue that would limit my future movement. The same is true of those internal scars. We can’t simply stuff them down, cover them over or ignore them. We need to work through them – let the Holy Spirit massage them with healing balm of Gilead.

Perhaps you’ve heard that African-American spiritual:

“There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole; there is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul.”

The balm of Gilead refers to verses in Jeremiah (8:22 and 46:11) in which God says there is no healing for the Israelites, even with the balm of Gilead. The spiritual brings in the New Testament and declares that the Holy Spirit revives us – Yes! There is a balm of Gilead. (Click here to hear a recording of Mahalia Jackson singing it.)

Often, perhaps usually, healing is not something we can accomplish on our own. It takes the supernatural work of God in our life. When my elbow was healing, despite my best efforts, that scar tissue began to form. The doctor was impressed by how little I had, but it was limiting my movement and I could tell it was a precursor to a painful future. I went to a healing service one night and God supernaturally touched my arm. One moment the area around the scar was hard and limiting; the next moment, the area was soft and pliable and my arm became flexible again. Praise God! He supernaturally completed the work that the surgeon had started and I’d been continuing.

After Jesus was tempted by satan in the desert for forty days, he returned to his boyhood home of Nazareth. “He went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures.” (Luke 4:16b) He read the following passage from the Old Testament:

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners;
Isaiah 61:1 (NRSV)

He concluded His reading by proclaiming that the Scripture was fulfilled that very day. In other words, He was the fulfillment of that Scripture. Jesus came to heal the brokenhearted and set the captives free. You can experience that healing and freedom in Christ. He can do for you what He’s done for me. He can heal wounds, both physical and emotional and spiritual. Seek His face, do what you know to do and trust Him with the results.

Yes, it would be nice to live in a world in which nothing caused scars – no injury severe or deep enough to create the trauma that results in scarring. But without the trauma, there can be no opportunity to experience God’s tremendous healing power.

I’m not looking for scarless perfection. I’m looking for a God who heals. The scars are a testimony to that healing.