Scars

We all have them.

They lace their way around our bodies and our souls.

We look at ourselves in view of Scripture and see them quite clearly: we see our scars. We see all the past mistakes, failures, sin, and pain. The stories that are buried in every one of those scars seem to define us: having a struggle with this sin or that sin, been through a divorce, victim of a sexual abuse, etc. etc. 

I know that I definitely have my scars. I have those past mistakes and sin that have cut deep into my soul, and there have been times where I ask God if there is any way He still can/still wants to heal me with how utterly broken I am. 

But then I read and remember that not only do we have a Savior that empathizes with my weaknesses, but we have a Savior that has scars too. Jesus has them littering His back, small scars on His forehead, a gash in His side, and those disgustingly beautiful holes in His hands. 

The difference is that He could have healed His scars. He is the Son of God, raised from the dead. Making a little new skin wouldn't have been hard at all. But yet, He still has them. He has them as an eternal reminder of what was accomplished at the cross: our salvation. Read this out of Isaiah 49:16...

"'See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands...' Declares the LORD"

We have a Savior that has scars, showing the most torturous pain anyone has ever gone through. Yet He is still concerned with ours. He knows our stories, He knows our pain. And someday in Heaven, in view of all He has done, our scars will finally be understood.