Scars

Growing up I was what many people called a Tom-boy! If my memory serves me well, I fell one too many times and got my own share of scars. I particularly remember this boy who was my age mate but kept bullying me and beating me every single day and I would go back home to mummy dearest and cry my eyes out. One, day I came home crying because this boy had thrown a stone at me, and it hit my head and I was bleeding. On this day my mum had heard just about enough of this boy, and she told me, and I quote, “go and defend yourself, if you come back home to cry because of this boy again, then I will also beat you.” Her African motherly instincts had kicked in and she knew she had to teach me self-defense. I kid you not, when my mum told me those words, I could see both the seriousness and love in her eyes, and I knew I needed to step up, I got this!

The next day, I saw the boy and I knew it was going down! He saw me and he knew his regular punching bag had arrived, little did he know that I had gotten some inspiration from mummy dearest, and I was pumped up! I beat him up so badly that he ran home crying and from that day onwards, he never laid a finger on me, respect had been created and everyone needed to stick to their lanes. The sad reality is that he left a scar on my face when he hit me with a stone. Many years later, I see the scar and I remember my childhood, how I was beaten, but still how I rose up and defended myself. To add onto my many scars, I recently had spine surgery, laminectomy due to a disc bulge on L4/L5 and I am currently on a healing journey and a scar is also developing.  

A scar is basically the body’s natural way of healing and replacing damaged skin but leaving a mark. The scar reminds us of the traumatic situations, infections, fighting, falling or surgery that we had to endure. They remind us of what we went through to get to where we are, yes, we received our scars in a painful way, but they tell a beautiful story. We all have gotten a scar or two in our bodies, some of which we got when we were playing when we were young,  others we got as grown-ups, through domestic violence, accidents, surgeries, and even by being emotionally scarred. Emotional scars are those we get when the people around us hurt and let us down, we also get emotional scars through the loss of loved ones, people we cherished but they left sooner than we expected leaving our hearts broken and crushed. Emotional scars are the most painful, though there is no physical scar, our hearts bear the pain. I kid you not this life we live in is full of hardships and pain, and without a Savior, we can be on a downward spiral of depression to hell – like literally. 

God knew that life would have its own share of hardships, that’s why He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross to bring us hope. Without Jesus, mankind was doomed and condemned. John 3:16-17 “for God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” Yes, life will give you many scars, and truth be told, there’s not a single person who has never been scarred in one way or another. But there’s healing through Jesus Christ. 

When Jesus hung on that old, rugged cross, He received several scars. His back was full of scars after He received 39 lashes, on His hands and feet were nails that were driven through them and on His head was placed a crown of thorns. After He died, the soldiers pierced His side to ascertain that He was dead and we read this in John 19:33-34 “but when they came to Jesus and found that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.” Jesus bore all these scars for our sake. He endured pain and suffering on our behalf so that we will be saved. He took on our scars so that you and I can live and walk scar free. His final words were, “it is finished,” “it is completed,” in Greek, ‘Tetelestai’ to mean the debt has been is paid in full. 

Sin brought about death and separation from God and in the book of Leviticus, we see God allowing the death of an animal in place for the sinner. The animal had to be without defects to represent Jesus Christ who is perfect with no defects. Leviticus 1:4 sums it all too well, “you are to lay your hand on the head of the animal for burnt offering, and it will be accepted on your behalf to make atonement for you.” Sin brought about separation from God and when Jesus died on the cross, the perfect, whole, and complete Son of God He became the ultimate sacrifice. All our sins, pain and suffering were laid on him and God Almighty received His sacrifice as atonement on our behalf and all we have to do is believe and accept Him as our Lord and Savior, the price has already been paid in full. This doesn’t mean that you wouldn’t go through hardships in life, it just means that you have extra help from the One who went through all the imaginable pain and suffering on your behalf. He took our place so that we didn’t have to die but receive God’s gift of eternal life. Yes, when you receive Jesus, there is life after death in Heaven where God The Father is. Jesus restored our relationship with our Father and now we can come into the Most Holy Place and experience God’s presence, His peace and His love.

Casting Crowns released a beautiful song called ‘scars in Heaven,’ and the chorus says, “the only scars in Heaven, they won’t belong to me and you, there’ll be no such thing as broken and all the old will be made new. And the thought that makes me smile now, even as the tears fall down, is that the only scars in Heaven are on the hands that hold you now.” It’s a beautiful song that speaks about loosing a loved one, who also had their own share of pain & scars, but the beauty of knowing Jesus is that when we transition from this earth, we go into the presence of the Father, all the scars & pain we endured here on earth are all gone and the only scars we will see in Heaven are those of our Lord and Savior. Oh, what an encouragement!

Beloved, make the decision today and receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Start this amazing journey of knowing God and living your life for Him. As He says in His Word, “behold I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done,” Revelation 22:12. Remember, whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. Jesus loves you and He’s waiting for you to come home to Him, it will be the best decision you will ever make. 

God bless you!!