Scars in Heaven

“Scars in Heaven” Isaiah 53:1-5 I allowed my finger to trace the taut, white, smooth skin of the scar on my right wrist. I had not done this in some time. Rarely anymore do I even notice, for years of healing have made it barely visible now. This wasn’t always the case. At one time it was red and raw. It itched and burned as my body worked to heal it. Some days I would feel a tingling, almost as if it wanted my attention. But that was many years ago. I didn’t realize at the time, but I was very lucky as the injury occurred right over my right radial artery. I had been millimeters away from severing my artery and potentially bleeding out in my sleep. I recalled that night in my mind. I admit, a part of me smiled as it took me back in time for a bit. I had been out somewhere and was supposed to call home when I needed a ride. Instead, I decided to catch a ride with someone heading the same way, and as they slowed in front of my house to drop me off … (Let me explain here. Many were terrified of my father. He was really a big teddy bear as my closest friends know. His looks conveyed another story. At over six feet tall, near 300 pounds with a black, burly beard and huge hands, he looked quite menacing. For this reason many didn’t want to risk a possible confrontation with him.) … I decided to jump over the side of the truck where my wrist became caught on a rusty piece of metal. At first I had no idea this happened. I felt the sting of the metal. I promptly sashayed into the house acting as if I had done my parents a favor by “saving them time” while allowing them to lounge at home as I had found my own way home. My father hit the roof. I went into my room to get ready for bed. This is when I noticed my wrist was bleeding some. Into the bathroom I went to clean the wound and slap on a band-aid. By the time I had brushed my teeth and gotten ready for bed, the bandage was soaked through. I took it off to look and felt my heart quicken. The wound was wider now. In a panic I grabbed a towel and just started wrapping my wrist. There was no way (already being in trouble) I was going to my parents with a potential ER visit looming. And definitely not due to my disobedience. I tried to settle down for sleep and positioned the towel to keep it tight. After only a couple minutes I checked again. It had slowed a bit but was still bleeding. Oh, how I remember that walk to the living room to tell my parents. I will spare you the details. It was a quiet ride to the ER. A few stitches and tetanus shot later, I was released to go home. Scars. I decided to look at different definitions for scars. Other than an extra word or so added here and there, they all were pretty much the same. Scars form as the body heals from injury and trauma to an area. We know this. It takes many things working together to complete the healing process. Connective fibers and collagen work to mend and form a protective environment to implement healing. When this process is finished, scarring forms. Perhaps we have never thought of a scar in such a way. That healing at some point has taken place. Let’s think for a moment about our scars. Most of us know how many we have, where they are and how they got there. For the most part we do not visit our physical scars daily. But we know they are there. Some visible, some not. No two alike. Some make us laugh or cry. Perhaps we smile as we reminisce about crazier, younger days. Some are battle scars, reminders of illness conquered. Certainly some of us are proud of the battles we have fought and the scars they left behind. Reminders of our strength and resilience. These may be the scars we don’t mind showing to the world. In a sense they make up a part of who we are. What about wounds that have not yet healed? The raw, fresh wounds. The wounding we don’t want to talk about. Perhaps wounds that nobody even knows we have? Emotional wounds. Trauma to our hearts. To our very being. To our core. These are the deepest of wounds. The ones that never stop hurting. Memories, events and decisions that our mind cannot escape. We visit these wounds often, and we are susceptible to the triggers that take us there. We spend so much time in these wounds that they have no chance of forming a protective and healing barrier. If we aren’t careful, these wounds become toxic, infective and rage through our bodies and lives where they spread and infect others as well. How does one heal from such wounding? How can healing possibly take place? God knows we are hurting and why. He knows the circumstances that led to our deep wounds and the moment our heart was first pierced. He knows the regret, guilt and shame we carry. Perhaps hidden from the world. Not hidden from Him though. He hears our cries and sees every tear. Healing cannot happen until we hand it all over to Him. He has a healing balm: His only Son Jesus. We tend to think nobody understands. He does. We forget at times He walked this earth and experienced the loneliness, hatred, rejection and pain that we have. He tells us in John 16 to take heart because He has overcome the world! In Revelation we are told (21:4) that God will wipe away all of our tears, and there will be no mourning or crying ever again. We have his Word on it. His Word is good and offers peace and promise, and nothing else on earth can guarantee that. We tend to ask ourselves, “Why would God want anything to do with me, knowing all I’ve done?” Hear this: No matter WHAT we have done, how much or to what degree we have disappointed, disobeyed and sinned against God, we can be forgiven and are loved dearly. Loved so much His Word states there is nothing, NOTHING, that can separate us from His love — in His Son Jesus Christ. Afraid we have sinned too much? God’s Word also states God does not count or hold our sins against us. As well, the Bible tells us “as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” Micah 7:18-19 tells us God casts our sins into the sea where they sink like a stone. We are also told our sins will be removed as far as the East is from the West which is an immeasurable distance. How can this be?, we ask. The Bible clearly states the wages for sin is death. Someone has to pay the price as God’s Word says so. So — who pays the price? The price was paid. We were spared. Still, someone had to suffer. Perhaps this will help us understand the love God has for us. What He did to spare us. To ensure we would not suffer in Hell but spend eternity with Him instead. Hear this story from Billy Graham’s book (as told in The Inspiration Study Bible by Max Lucado): “ How to be born again.” A father recalled the time he took the punishment for his children when they had disobeyed . The children had done something he had forbidden them to do. He went on to tell them if they did this again, he would have to discipline them. When he returned from work that day and found they had not minded him, he had a change of heart and felt he could not, in fact, bear to discipline them. Instead, he called both children to come to him. He took off his belt and shirt, and with a bare back, knelt down at the bed. He made them both strap him with the belt ten times each. All were crying. Of course, the kids didn’t want to do this. They were sobbing heavily; but through their tears, he told them the penalty had to be paid and it had to be done. The father went on to say it hurt him as much as it did them ... to see them suffer too. {On a side note, he never had to spank them after that because they understood.) They hugged and prayed together. A loving father bearing the punishment for his children’s sins. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? The price was paid for our past, present and future sins. The innocent, blameless Son of God paid the price. The One who hung between Heaven and Earth. Wearing the crown of thorns we all placed on His tender head. The sin of all drove the nails into His feet and palms. It is easy for us to be consumed with His suffering. His rejection. The anguish. I struggle a great deal with this. But if we spend too much time there – in the darkness of it all – we miss the joy of His resurrection and what that means for us. We, too, can spend so much time in our darkness – in our wounds, so to speak – that we hinder the healing process and the sweet release and peace it can bring. Once we begin to heal, a scar will form. Over time it will become less visible. Yes, it will always be there. From time to time we will revisit that tender area on our heart. Maybe even linger a while. We must be careful to not linger too long for Satan will want us to move back in and take up residence in those dark memories. The shame, guilt and regret. He will whisper in our ears that we are not worthy, and that God cannot possibly love us for what we’ve done, and that the world is judging us. Remember though, it was Jesus who overcame the world, not Satan. Have we accepted Jesus as Lord and Saviour in our lives? Know it’s perfectly okay to do it more than once! A sincere prayer of confession whispered or spoken aloud. Even silently in our hearts. Alone or with someone. Anywhere. Anytime. Why wait? Why put it off? Do it today. We may not get a chance tomorrow. This seals us unto Him for eternity and ensures a life everlasting. He hears our prayer. Our pleas. He accepts and forgives. He is knocking at the door of every heart and He is the healing balm. Once invited in, God’s Holy Spirit will reside in us, deepening our desire to share Jesus with the world and do His will. This is the only way. Jesus must be accepted into our lives. Believing is not enough. We will not carry our scars to Heaven. The scars in Heaven are on the palms of the One who gave all He had. For all. I often wonder if He has regrets when He looks at His hands. Does He allow His fingers to occasionally trace the outline of the marks? I am finally at a place in my life where I feel He does not regret. Is it possible that our faces were in His mind and on His heart as He hung helpless on the cross? Did He focus on us while in pain? Perhaps. The Bible says our names, once we accept Him, are written in the Book of Life. The very first time I heard the song, “Scars in Heaven,” was shortly after I watched my Mom take her last breath. I felt it had been written for her. It is now one of my favorite songs. I found myself tracing the lines in her face and on her hands as she rested those last few days. It made me think about the challenges she had faced: anxiety, worry and sickness, fear, regrets. Everything we experience. Some small scars had formed indicating healing had taken place at some point. I recall hoping she had not spent too much time in her life revisiting those wounds. When I hear the song, I envision Christ and His hands. The scars on head and temple. His feet. I encourage you to listen to the entire song. Here is the chorus to “Scars in Heaven” (Casting Crowns); The only scars in Heaven won’t belong to me and you There’s 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. Let the healing begin. janet