Daily Devotional

Do you have any physical scars? I mean like, significant scars that have somewhat become a part of who you are?  As a child, I was very injury-prone. I got hurt often and have many memories of trips to the emergency room. Interestingly, with all the bumps and bruises, scratches and scrapes, there are only two scars that I have that I will never forget. The two scars are both from times when I needed to get stitches.

The first was when I sliced my thumb open while improperly using a steak knife in 8th grade. The other is when I tore my ACL while in the Marine Corps and needed a complete reconstruction in which they took a piece of my hamstring and graphed it into where my old ACL was and let it grow like new. The recovery from that surgery was easily the worst pain that I have ever experienced in my life. Yet, what I've come to learn (literally as you are reading this), is that scars can tell stories. Now, of course, at the time of the injury and during the recovery process, we are not enthused about what story this injury might one day tell, why? Because we're wounded, which involves pain, frustration, and sadness. Depending on how great the wound is, the road to recovery can be a long, arduous, and exhausting one.

But just like our physical wounds need a doctor to tend to them, our spiritual brokenness requires Jesus - the Great Physician - to heal them. And the beauty is once they've been healed, our wounds become scars. And the spiritual scars we have, allow us to tell people about a Savior who healed our spiritual brokenness. Jesus meets us in our pain, in our struggle, and in our doubt and assures us that he is with us in our difficulties. Whether you have a fresh wound that is in the process of healing, you have a wound that is almost done healing, or you have a scar that is from many years ago, trust and know that Jesus is more than able to heal our wounds and turn them into scars that are able to tell His story. Our confidence comes from Christ who comforts us in our affliction.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.