Scars: Beauty from AshesSample

Beauty from Ashes

Hurts come in all shapes and sizes. But God takes us from broken to beautiful, damaged to our destiny, and scarred to set free if we allow him to be part of our healing process.

Wounds come from anywhere: betrayal, trauma, loss, or abuse. Even being a Christ-follower is not the most comfortable lifestyle if we do it right. Scars are often the price we pay for faithful discipleship.

My own family has suffered some scars. We have been through addiction, PTSD, anxiety, and depression. We have even survived a suicide attempt. These things leave more than a few scars.

We now recognize the healing that our scars represent. We understand that though we were broken, the scars we are left with are now beautiful reminders of God’s mending and strengthening in our lives.

Each person handles hurt differently. Some of us ignore it. Others of us fight, get angry at God, or turn to drugs, alcohol, sex, or food to numb ourselves.

God wants to heal us and promises to give us beauty for our ashes and joy for our mourning. (Isaiah 61:3)

That beauty comes from laying our hurts at the feet of Jesus. Childhood neglect, divorce, the loss of a parent or child—we can lay them down. The internal injuries from being left out, ignored, or bullied—we can lay those down, too.

God wants all your hurts.

He has healing for each one.

He has a divine way through human suffering.

He doesn’t promise we won’t have pain; he promises never to leave us.

He changes wounds into scars--reminders of how far God has brought us and proof that we have survived what the enemy meant for our harm.

Prayer: Father, take all my woundedness, grief, and pain. Make something beautiful from these ugly wounds. Please come in and work your healing into each hurt place. I want to be healed, whole, and restored! Take my brokenness and show me the way out of the pain. Begin turning my wounds into scars today, in Jesus’ name, amen.