How To Overcome Your Past and Find Healing
Scarred
Do you have a scar on your body you hate? Or an emotional scar you hide?
We tend to hide our scars, but scars are a normal part of life. We all have at least one. Scars indicate an engagement where we were wounded. There should be no shame in having scars. The reality is they are symbolic of triumph, whether they are physical scars, mental scars, emotional scars, or spiritual scars. The fact you are still active and pressing on is a testimony to that triumph.
I can almost hear you thinking there’s nothing good about your wounds or scars. And yes, you are glad the Lord saved you, but in the night, when you feel overwhelmed by crushing thoughts of fear, shame, condemnation, and guilt, it often centers around an emotional scar.
TORMENTED
Those powerful thoughts torment us and may leave us feeling the need to apologize for being alive, for taking up space on planet earth. Painful thoughts we can’t escape drive us into self-destructive behaviors as we try to silence tormenting thoughts as we numb our heart by pretending we have no scars.
If we are honest, we fear the censure of others, so we hide behind a mask, hiding our emotional scars, hiding our shame, hiding our pain. And though we become experts in hiding, tidal waves from the ocean of pain within us continue to rage. Just when we think we are beginning to get a grip on life, a huge wave knocks us down, catching us in unaware.
SELF-DESTRUCTIVE
Because our tendency is to engage in self-punishing behavior, we create more wounds, more scars. In our distress, we may engage in cutting, bulimia, anorexia, compulsive acts, addiction to drugs, alcohol, sex, or dangerous behaviors.
Or we may turn to more acceptable forms of self-inflicted wounds such as workaholism, chugging energy drinks, Mountain Dew, or caffeine to keep going when our body cries for rest. We each have our distinct way of running away from emotional scars in our effort to numb our heart to pain.
Night After Night
No matter how we try, we are held in bondage by churning thoughts of emotional wounds that drive us and keep us from experiencing the freedom of forgiveness, joy, and the sweetness of the Lord’s personal love for us.
The words of the song, “Scars”, by I PREVAIL, address the reality of conflict over this issue of tormenting thoughts surrounding our scars.
“I can’t escape all these thoughts in my mind
They’re waiting to haunt me, night after night…”
In the music video, which I don’t endorse, there is a powerful moment when those scarred by life, remove their mask and throw it into the fire. The song concludes with:
“I feel it in my bones and everything I know
I feel it in my bones, I feel it, I feel it
I feel it in my heart when it all turns to dark
Try to tear us apart but know that we’ll wear our scars.”
And so it takes almost superhuman strength to admit we have emotional scars, for we fear what our scars say about us, and we fear the censure and rejection of others.
Perhaps we thought Jesus would make everything wonderful and we would stop hurting after He became our Saviour. Instead our pain and anxiety increased causing us to feel ashamed and guilty. In despair, we play the Christian game and pretend to be spiritual as we desperately try to numb our heart so we don’t feel pain.
Here’s the big secret to heal your emotional scars.
* Accept your wound. Accept your scar. You are not shameful!
* Embrace your pain. Don’t fight against it.
* Bring it in the light and thank Jesus you aren’t alone.
* Grieve in His presence.
* Allow Jesus to walk with you, to lance and cleanse the abscess.
* Allow the Comforter to comfort you with His healing touch.
You and I are human. All humans bear wounds; that means you too will have emotional scars that must be opened to the light and the air so they can begin to heal and form a scar.
Christ is the Light. The Holy Spirit is the pure air.
SIGN OF HEALING
You see, a scar is a wonderful sign of healing. Your scars reveal the mystery of life – that God is greater than death, and destruction, and the wounds you experienced.
An open wound only begins to heal as tissue is formed out of myofibroblast cells, which are devoid of fat. As fibroblasts send out filaments, connections are made which cause the open wound to shrink and then to close. As the tissue forms closing the wound, it often leaves scars. Normally, the deeper and more serious the wound, the greater the scar tissue. Once healing occurrs, it is almost impossible to get rid of the scars.
If you Google scars, you will find ways to minimize or make them less noticeable.
Over time scars may fade and be less prominent, but logically, scars are proof the body has healed. That is a wonderful thing! No one wants to go through life with an open, infected wound.
For those of us who wear emotional scars, where thoughts attack our value as a human being and destroy our very dignity, let us remember those scars are also a sign of God’s power to redeem us.
Though you can never go back and undo the past, you can move forward in the name of Yeshua, embracing the truth He has chosen you!
GIVE THANKS
When thoughts swirl in your head, rather than focus on the emotional scar, you and I have the privilege to praise the Lord for our redemption!
Therefore, praise Yeshua for He loves you in your brokenness. Praise Him for what He has rescued you from. Praise Him for He is the resurrection and has given you a fresh start, making you new in Himself. Praise Him for He dwells inside you.
TESTAMENT OF GRACE
Our emotional scars may become a testament to our Lord’s grace and His deep compassionate love for us. The testimony of this song by Clint Lagerberg and Nicole Nordeman says it all.
“Heal the wound but leave the scar
A reminder of how merciful You are
I am broken, torn apart, take the pieces of this heart
And heal the wound but leave the scar.”
My dear friend, if your wounds aren’t yet healed, if you carry deep emotional scars, you aren’t alone. The Redeemer suffers with you, He understands the deepest longings of your heart.
Yeshua was wounded for your transgressions; He bears visible scars on His body that will last all of eternity as proof of His love for you.
Yeshua is with you in your pain, in your fear, in your loneliness, and in your shame. He will never leave or forsake you. He beckons you to come to Him, for He is the Healer of the broken heart. Let Him anoint your wounds with the sweet oil of His love, healing you of your past, of your iniquities, of your deep wounds.
In this way, your scars will become your testimony to His precious saving grace at work in your life as He sets you free from the bondage of the past.
This blog fills my heart with so much joy that I want to burst out singing and dancing! How great is our God that even scars testify of His love! <3
Thanks, Joy. I am encouraged you. I hope you took a moment to sing and dance! It is good for the soul! Celebrating life and the wonder of the mystery of our God transforming even scars into a testament of His personal love for us. He is so good and I love the fact He was with me when I received each wound and apart from His love, that wounding might have crippled or killed me – But God! In His great mercy, He took the brunt of the implement raised to cause me harm.
Have a blessed day and take a moment to break out into dance before your Beloved Lord. 🙂
This was great! I truly believe that our scars speak, telling stories of a life that has been transformed.
Thank you, Ahia. It is true, our scars do speak.
Our “scars reveal the mystery of life – that God is greater than death, and destruction, and the wounds you experienced.”
Transformation is another mystery and speaks to me of the wonderful love of our Lord, so we need never be ashamed of our scars. May the Lord bless you and continue His work of transformation in your life.