The Story of Your Scars
The other night I sat across the table of a group of women. Remarkable women.
All beautiful and all with scars.
These are real everyday kind of women. The kind that smile and give you hugs when you see them. The kind that laugh at the funny stuff, shake their heads at the nonsense, sit with a friend in need, and love their people like crazy. They are also the kind that push themselves each day, run late, miss deadlines, yell at their kids, get irritated behind the wheel, and cry.
Real everyday kind of women.
Each of them have a story uniquely theirs. In each there is much good, yet in each there is pain.
Pain
… from loss and from gain.
… from lack and from abundance.
Pain that comes simply from the fallout of the sin and brokenness of our world.
Each has a story and each has hope.
Behind every powerful story of redemption and hope, lies a story of pain. Our scars tell a story #hope Share on X
As for me, I look to the Lord for help. I wait confidently for God to save me, and my God will certainly hear me. Micah 7:7
It’s a hope for what will come. That a day will come where the pain eases. It is a hope for joy to return. It is a hope that the scars left behind will aid in writing a story greater than we could have ever dreamed.
… For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn’t believe even if someone told you about it. Habakkuk 1:5
Sharon Jaynes wrote a book titled Your Scars Are Beautiful to God. In talking about the book she described scars as the remaining mark of a healed wound. She said, “There is a big difference between a wound and a scar, because a scar says, ‘I’ve been healed, and this is my story.’”
I love that because when we are healed and willing to share the story of our scars, God is able to use our story as a tool in the healing of others. Think of an actual physical scar you may carry. I have a great big one on my knee from an ACL reconstruction many years ago. People always ask me about it. It begins a conversation.
Just as those physical scars serve as a reminder of a healed physical wound, my emotional scars serve as the reminder to share the hope birthed out of my life story. And in that moment I choose to share God’s story, what Satan meant for harm, transforms into good. Just as God promised!
He longs for us to claim our heritage as beloved children of God – chosen and wonderfully created with purpose by Him. You see, the truth of our story is our victory and the enemy’s defeat!
It is the beauty recreated from the ashes of our pain.
To all who mourn in Israel,
he will give a crown of beauty for ashes,
a joyous blessing instead of mourning,
festive praise instead of despair.
In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks
that the Lord has planted for his own glory. Isaiah 61:3
Our story is the beauty recreated from the ashes of our pain. #scars #hope #mystory Share on X
Pain, challenges, and struggle are a part of who we are – all of us. No one escapes it. We each have a choice as to what we will do with it. We choose to crumble by the weight of it, hiding the struggles from the world and allowing our defeat. Or we choose to take the offering of grace and forgiveness by the One Who redeems. We choose to give it to Jesus. When we do that, He takes the burden from us, heals the pain, and gives new meaning and a purpose. And then in sharing the story of our scars, we are given the honor of sharing the story of our Healer.
Choosing to share the story of your scars makes you able to share the story of your Healer. #scars #hope #story Share on X
A Prayer
Father, from the view we have, our pain and struggles often seem without meaning. We vacillate between anger, sadness, and depression. Lord, be our Courage and Strength as we step through it. Bring us to a place where the pain eases and the joy begins to return. To a place where we can share the story. Remind us – engrave upon our hearts Your hope for a wound that heals and leaves a scar. A scar that will give us a story to bring another to You, the great Healer. You know the purpose of our wounds, so I ask that we surrender them. That we surrender our pain and our anger to You so that You can take what the enemy meant for harm and destruction, and make something beautiful rise out of those ashes.
In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen
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“Choosing to share the story of your scars makes you able to share the story of your Healer.” Such beautiful truth!
Michelle,
Thank you so much for visiting and for your kind words! I am so thankful you found truth here today!
Blessings and smiles,
Lori
Sharing your scars helps in so many ways. It’s so true. I’ve been sharing my scars lately, as I’m sure you’ve seen. Since I started not only have I begun to feel better and stronger, more and more people have been reaching out to me. Those who wanted to provide comfort or needed a little hope of their own all reached out. It’s amazing what sharing those scars can really do.
Hi Gina,
Your stories have been so transparent and I am without a doubt that they have given many hope! You are an inspiration, friend! When that happens, I think we begin to treasure our scars as opposed to detesting them!
Blessings and smiles,
Lori
So true Lori, our scars are our badges of honor, they show our strength and resilience. Your scars also reveal your strength, but also increase your compassion and empathy, which are both desperately needed in our world.
Thanks again for reminding us of what is important.
Wishing you a lovely weekend
Hugs, Lynn
Hi Lynn,
Thank you so much for your encouraging words! I love how you so beautifully phrased that! Our world does need a lot more compassion and empathy, doesn’t it?!
It was a very busy, but fun weekend! I hope yours was wonderful, as well!
Hugs,
Lori
This is well written, Lori. Everyone carries scars and they should be shared with others.
Thank you, Carol, for your kind words and for visiting!
Blessings and smiles,
Lori
Great post Lori and I’m so grateful for your writing and the way it touches lives. Thank you for sharing your life and opening the window for all of us to heal also.
Thanks so much, Carrie! Your words mean so much to me!
Hugs,
Lori
Thanks to His mercy and grace for making beauty from my ashes. I have scars but he has made me whole again. I love your post.
Amen, Sherry! He does make beauty from our ashes!!! Thank you so much for visiting and for your sweet words that made my heart happy tonight!
Blessings and smiles,
Lori
it’s so true! our scars are what makes us unique and tell the story of how we become who we are ! lovely post!
Thank you so much, Charlotte! I look back, I can see the good that came from each scar. Ones that came with so much pain, I can now appreciate for all the ways they have shaped me. I pray we all can use our scars to give hope to others.
Blessings and smiles,
Lori
Just last Sunday i spoke to my congregation about an experience that was frightening but I learned a lot from. I had never shared it before and almost didn’t. I was surprised at how many people came up to me after to thank me. I’m glad I shared it. There was certainly power in doing so! Great post!
I am so thrilled to hear about the freedom and power you recently must have experienced by the sharing of your story! What the enemy meant for harm, God used for good. Your scars blessed others and gave them hope! Thank you, friend, for visiting and for sharing your sweet story!
Blessings and smiles,
Lori
Brave and strong! Thank you so much for linking up!
Thank you so much, Suzie, for visiting and for hosting such a beautiful community!
So happy to have stopped here from Lyli’s today.
Thank you for visiting, Elizabeth! I pray you were blessed!
Hi Lori – I’m visiting from Lyli’s – beautiful post, beautiful pics, and site. How thankful I am that God brings purpose from our pains! Blessings!
Hi Sandra,
Thank you for stopping by and thank you so much for the kind words!
Blessings and smiles,
Lori
I was sexually abused by my father as a child. I didn’t know who to tell and kept it in until my 40’s. I started cutting so that the physical pain would help numb the emotional pain for a few minutes. So I have lots of scars on my legs that I try to keep hidden.
Show them! Share them! It will be healing for you and for so many others that may have gone through the same. There is truth in the old saying, “Misery loves company.” But in a positive way, finding others with that same misery can be so healing for everyone. Let God use those physical scars to find others with the same misery, and let His healing begin for you all.