Faith-bearing Seed for the Soul
"While the earth remaineth,
Seedtime and harvest
....shall not cease"

Genesis 8:22

Why the Scars?

As I watched the portrayal of the life of our Lord on the TV miniseries "Jesus," in a scene after the resurrection, the huge scars on His hands appeared so vivid. The questioning thought I had was, "God, You raised Him from the dead, why couldn't you have taken away those ugly scars too?" He flooded my mind with answers.

The scars left on His hands were for doubters, like Thomas, who would not believe until they could see with their own eyes. They were marks that identified this man with suffering and pain, and  those scars were an evidence of victory, not only of the suffering, but as our raised from the dead Messiah.

Often times we ask Him to erase the scars left in our lives by previous hurt and suffering, both physically and emotionally, yet they remain. They remain as a testimony to ourselves and to others that we have passed through being wounded victoriously.  They are, so to speak, our "trophies" of His continual love, healing and deliverance. They signify that He was there to not only comfort us, but help us through and heal our wounds so that we can testify to those who are doubting that He is also there to strengthen, heal and bring them through their trials. When others see in us, from our HEALED wounds, that we suffered in a like manner as they are suffering, our scars will encourage them to believe, just as Jesus' scars encouraged Thomas to believe. Some need to see the scars and touch them before they trust that we understand, and before they will receive the solution that we have to offer... Jesus!

II Corinthians 3-7 LB (emphasis mine)

What a wonderful God we have--he is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the source of every mercy, and the one who so  wonderfully comforts and strengthens us in our hardships and trials. And why does he do this? So that when others are troubled, needing our sympathy and encouragement, we can pass on to them this same help and comfort God has given us. You can be sure that the more we undergo sufferings for Christ, the more he will shower us with his comfort and encouragement. We are in deep trouble for bringing you God's comfort and salvation. But in our trouble God had comforted us--and this, too, to HELP YOU: to show you from our personal experience how God will tenderly comfort you when you undergo these same sufferings. He will give you the strength to endure.

So often we say that we want to be the Lord's servants, but we haven't the slightest knowledge of what the cost is. Some have even taught that the Lord's servants are never called to suffer. When we find ourselves wounded, we wonder what we might have done wrong. When in truth, many times we can be wounded because we are doing what is right. However, there are times that our own sin brings hurt into our life, and the scars left from sin can be used as a reminder to resist future sin. Though we are forgiven and we are not to dwell on the past, there are always consequences to disobedience and the scars remain.

Paul tells us what being the Lord's called and anointed minister cost him. His was not a utopia, a trouble free life, as you will see...

II Corinthians 6:4-5

In everything we do we try to show that we are true ministers of God. We patiently endure suffering and hardship and trouble of every kind. We have been beaten, put in jail, faced angry  mobs, worked to exhaustion, stayed awake through sleepless nights of watching, and gone without food.

II Corinthians 11:23-27

I have worked harder, been put in jail oftener, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again. Five different times the Jews gave me their terrible thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I was in the open sea all night and the whole next day. I have traveled many weary miles and have been often in great danger from flooded rivers, and from robbers, andfrom my own people, the Jews, as well as from the hands of the Gentiles. I have faced grave dangers from mobs in the cities and from death in the deserts and in the stormy seas and from men who claim to be brothers in Christ but are not.

It's impossible to go through life's battles without being wounded... When we do not recognize that some wounds will come as a part of the Christian life and battle, or when we dwell on them, not surrendering them to the Lord for healing, it is like continually removing the scab of a deep cut and thereby inviting infection to enter. This prolongs our discomfort and pain, and similar to what can happen in the natural realm, may even cause severe complications and discouragement that eventually lead to spiritual death.

But we have Jesus, known by His nail scarred hands, wounded for our  transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, a man who suffered in like manner as we...waiting to heal, comfort and restore us. As we turn our wounds and pain over to Him, and let Him replace them with His healed scars, we can then go on to minister help to others in their distress.

II Corinthians 6:10

Our hearts ache, but at the same time we have the joy of the Lord. We are poor, but we give rich spiritual gifts to others. We own nothing, and yet we enjoy everything.

Rooted and grounded in the love of Christ Jesus,

Marlene JuHaros,

Texas Seed Sower

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Eccl. 11:6

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