Scars Can Become Beauty Marks
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One quality I absolutely love about God is that he is redemptive. Redemption is defined as:
The action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil.
The action of regaining or gaining possession of something in exchange for payment, or clearing a debt.
Personally I shudder to think about what my life would be like and where I would be without the gift of redemption. Clearly Jesus’ death on the cross is the ultimate redemption where he paid for our sin and error that evil brought into this world. This is the action of Him paying for what we’ve done wrong so that we can live together forever. What I want to focus on is the how redemption affects our lives individually and the process of how it happens.
I heard a statement from Lisa Harper that speaks to the end result. She said, “Our scars can become beauty marks.” Sin always marks our lives which is why God hates it. Even though it doesn’t seem like it at times, God’s boundaries are there to protect us. He is not a God that is trying to steal our fun in life.
I am not proud of how I have lived all of my life and I have certainly and unfortunately sought belonging, love, acceptance, identity, and confidence in all the wrong places (as we all do). The reason for this blog and the reason I do what I do is that I have found, or I should say, been found by the only genuine and lasting source of true life. If I didn’t absolutely know in my heart of hearts that this is true, I wouldn’t be putting it out there. The details aren’t necessary but trust me when I say I’ve followed the world’s ways and it led to nothing but more shame, heartache, regret, and consequences that affected more lives than just my own. Ugly ugly scars.
I have two life verses and they are both redemption verses. The first is Romans 8:28 which says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” One thing I want to point out is that we can love God and still be living a destructive lifestyle. I read a blog recently from a foster mother who was writing about a behavioral issue with her child. The child always acted out at meal times and it was a real problem. She had no idea how to handle it or why he behaved this way. Once she received more information on the child she realized the child had been neglected and not fed as a baby and small child. Even though the child had no conscious memory of the neglect or why he acted out, his brain “remembered” and caused the outbursts.
Our life experiences have physiological effects on our brains. Positive experiences and affirmations, things like love and security produce dendrites resulting in more connections in the brain. On the flip side things like abuse, neglect, violence, and insecurity cause the dendrites to die off resulting in less connections in the brain. (Dr. Caroline Leaf) The point in all of this is that we at times make choices as a result of what our brain remembers, that we don’t even understand. So be careful the next time you are tempted to make a judgement against a person because you have no idea what they have been through and how it has affected them physiologically, emotionally, and spiritually. I’ve been there, I’ve acted out in ways that I didn’t want to and didn’t understand. Our place is to offer grace and relationship through mentoring not judgement. Because I’ve been, there I know life can be different and God has given me a passion to share that hope. Out of my experience I have found the answer, but people don’t care what I know until they know that I care.
My second life verse is Psalm 40:1-3 which says in The Passion Translation, “I waited, and waited, and waited some more, patiently, knowing God would come through for me. Then, at last, he bent down and listened to my cry. He stooped down to lift me out of danger from the desolate pit I was in, out of the muddy mess I had fallen into. Now he’s lifted me up to a firm secure place and steadies me as I walk along his ascending path. A new song for a new day rises up in me every time I think about how he breaks through for me! Ecstatic praise pours out of my mouth until everyone hears how God has set me free. Many will see his miracles; they’ll stand in awe of God and fall in love with him!”
I cannot explain in words the immense love and gratitude I have for how God has rescued me, redeemed; bought me back from destruction with his life, and restored my life. I was so lost with no hope and not living, but merely surviving out of that hopeless state. I was in the middle of a pit of blackness slowly sinking...but God. He rescued me, “lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set me feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord.” (NLT)
It’s not in trying harder to control my temper, drink less, spend less, fill in the blank. It’s in getting to know Jesus better that takes care of all of that other stuff. That stuff that scars. I promise that the more you seek him, the more you’ll find him, and you’ll be more than satisfied. The emptiness will be filled with true belonging, perfect love, complete acceptance, hope and purpose. You’ll no longer search for it in the bottle, relationship, or pay check. Bring the wounds even if they are gaping and Jesus will begin tending them. They will heal and possibly leave a scar or two, but His redemption ends in restoration. Restoration turns scars into beauty marks.