The Scars We Bear

I didn’t know what to expect. Thoughts raced while sitting nervously in the waiting room, remembering how this all began. Several months back, my primary care physician had been concerned about the number of drug allergies listed on my medical record. Throughout my childhood and teen years, hives surfaced with almost every antibiotic in existence. This meant doctors didn’t know what to prescribe if I became truly sick. So, my physician referred me to an allergist.

Although filled with much trepidation during my appointment, I was grateful the allergist was a caring woman who wasn’t annoyed with my series of questions. She was more concerned about that list of allergies and the troublesome hives. So, she proposed a three-part skin test to see if I had outgrown my childhood adversary, penicillin. I was wary, but the peace of knowing was far better than not knowing, so I moved forward, knowing discomfort would later come. The test involved many skin pokes and waiting for the inevitable. But praise God! I didn’t get hives, and penicillin was removed from the naughty list. Although my appointment took four hours, it gave me plenty of time to think. What kept coming to mind was the shocked look on my doctor’s face while telling her I hadn’t taken an antibiotic since high school. That’s when I realized the beauty of God’s protection.

Throughout the rest of that day, my heart was bursting with love for God because of His love for me—the same love Nehemiah talks about in his prayer over Jerusalem:

“O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love with those who love him and obey his commands, listen to my prayer! … I confess that we have sinned against you. Yes, even my own family and I have sinned! We have sinned terribly by not obeying the commands, decrees, and regulations that you gave us through your servant Moses. Please remember what you told your servant Moses: ‘If you are unfaithful to me, I will scatter you among the nations. But if you return to me and obey my commands and live by them, then even if you are exiled to the ends of the earth, I will bring you back to the place I have chosen for my name to be honored.’” (Nehemiah 1:5-9)

Like Nehemiah, there are certain sins in my own life that still weigh heavily on me. Yet, I must keep in mind that God doesn’t work through karma. Instead of punishing us with what we deserve, God lovingly corrects us so we can turn back to Him. Each time I glanced at the scars on my arm left from my appointment, I didn’t want to cover them, because they reminded me of God’s goodness as well as the power of Jesus. Just like our exterior scars, our inner scars can tell the same story. Whatever scars we bear, Jesus bears them too—proudly. 

Let’s pray: Dear Jesus, help us to see our scars as reminders that You can restore anything. Thank You for Your protection and Your wondrous love. Sin hurts us as much as it hurts You, so teach us to repent and turn back to You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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Scripture is quoted from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.