Storytellers

 "As He spoke, He showed them the wounds in His hands and side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord!" John 20:20...."He tells His story through our scars." Sheila Walsh

Someone said that the only visible scars in heaven will be those worn by Jesus. All of ours will have vanished. Until then though, we all bear the scars of life in a fallen world. For those who have their life in Him, He uses those scars to tell His story.....and ours.

Without Christ, the scars of most serve to show forth shame, anger, bitterness, defeat. For the believer, the one who has put their trust, their lives, and their wounds in His hands, they will serve as illustrations of His victory. That was the case when the risen Christ showed His scars to His disciples. The scars were proof to His disciples that He was indeed risen, that death, and the suffering of the cross, could not hold Him. They were filled with joy. If we will give our wounds and scars to Him, He will do the same with them. He will make them marks of the lives of an overcomer. They will be proof that the suffering we walked through did not crush us, but were used by Him to lift us higher in Him as well as deeper in Him. As Erwin McManus wrote, "He doesn't take us around the pain, but through it. The faith journey doesn't get easier. We get stronger." There is a wonderful story and testimony of His life and power in and through our wounds. They could not hold Him, and so, neither can they hold us. Every scar we bear, even the most painful and devastating, is turned to victory because what was meant to destroy us instead made us more like Him, and displayed His glory to both a watching world and a watching church.

Walsh says that our scars are proof that He heals. Yes, they're visible on this side of eternity, but each one tells the story of a triumph over that which was meant to destroy us, to kill our spirit long before we would actually die. Such stories give hope to those who are also walking through their pain with bleeding wounds. There is healing to be had, great hope to be encountered, and great life to lived. And a wonderful story to tell through the scars.

We all have wounds. All of them will tell a story. What story do ours tell? They will point either to death and darkness or to His Life and Light. They will tell either His story or the enemy's. The world is literally dying to hear His story. Will you and I be His storytellers.....through our scars?

Blessings,

Pastor O