Scars

The other night I overheard the #SmithBoyz talking at bedtime. Micah had taken a baseball to the face during a tee ball game and had quite a mark on his nose. After I applied the Mederma and cut out the lights, Micah had a pressing question for his big brother...

Micah: Kaleb?
Kaleb: What's up?
Micah: Is this sore gonna stay on my nose forever?
Kaleb: No. Sores go away and turn into scars.
Micah: Scar? What's a scar?
Kaleb: A scar is what's left on your body after a sore is healed.
Micah: I don't get it.
Kaleb: Alright. So...you know how when you first got hit in the face it was bleeding?
Micah: Uh huh
Kaleb: Then after it stopped bleeding and stuff, a few days later or something like that, it started to get a scab on it and be a sore?
Micah: Yeah...
Kaleb: And now it's like kinda flat and going away, but you can still kinda see it a little bit?
Micah: Like it's stuck on my nose but people can only see it just a little bit now?
Kaleb: Yeah...that's a scar. A scar is what a sore used to be. A scar is like a sore that's mostly healed.
Micah: How you know that?
Kaleb: Trust me bro, I got a LOT of scars.
Micah: But h-
Me; If ya'll don't zip those lips and close your eyes, we gone have some problems! Go to bed!

Although I had to go into "Mama Mode" to prevent as much morning mayhem as possible, Kaleb came through with a good word that evening. If you have a visible, physical scar on your body, I want you to look at it now. If it's in a "secret" place, be discreet. I don't need anyone getting fired or arrested for indecent exposure! As you look at the scar, think back to what caused it.  What happened? Did it hurt? Did you cry? Did you need stitches? How long did it take to heal? Is it raised? Flat? Faint? Undetectable?

Most of us are walking around with scars. Some of them are fresh and still pretty visible, others are faint and barely noticeable. Either way, most of us have scars. Some of us even have scars that are completely invisible to the outside world, but we know they are there. You see, when we first go through an uncomfortable experience, it hurts like hell. You are divorcing someone you once loved with your entire being. You are burying someone who you couldn't imagine your life without. You are leaving a job of many years and are now unemployed. You are watching a child you raised in the best love of God you could provide travel down a wayward path and make destructive choices. You've lost friends, love, money...some days it feels like you've even lost your mind. But then, as time goes on, you start to live again. Some days are better than others, but there are smiles where there were once only tears. More time passes, and you find yourself thinking less and less about the sore, and more and more about what's in store. Soon, outside of small triggers, you give little to no energy to that thing that was once so unbearable.

But then, there are the spiritual or emotional scars that we sometimes continue to treat like sores. Though time and space has moved, we act like the healing hasn't taken place. Therefore, we are giving unnecessary attention to something that doesn't require it. You aren't going to put Neosporin on a 20 year old scar. It's pointless! C'mon now...you're not going to put a Band-Aid on a chicken pox mark from 1983! So why are you holding on to the hurt and pain of a wound that time and God's love has turned into a scar? When those triggers happen, we spend WAAAYYY more time in the "sunken place" than we deserve. When God delivers us from the situation, in His time and in His way, we gotta walk in that deliverance. There will be times that we are reminded; our minds take a trip down memory lane. A song plays, a photo drops from a hidden space, a random text or phone call takes us to a place. Every scar that has formed in our Spirit has happened by God's grace. Don't ever forget that. We have been healed. So don't be haunted by the hurt and pain of the past. Understand that the scars simply serve as a reminder of the healing that has ALREADY taken place. We are Warriors. We are Conquerors. We are Victorious through God. Walk in your healing and Be Blessed XOXO