Scars on Your Soul

Scars tell a story about who you are and the life you've led.


I've got this cute little scar on my knee from a fall as a child.  
I bled heavily and the pain was intense at the time.  It's so strange to look at it today, 53 years later, and it's just a cute little scar, no pain, just a memory of a moment in time long ago.

It's amazing how so many things in our lives leave a scar, not all of them "a cute little scar".
What about you, do you have any scars?

My knee is the least of the scars that is/was my life.  I left home at the age of 15 and married a abusive drug addict, that left a huge scar on my soul.  Every blow from his angry hand, the beating and miscarriage of my Rachael, every foul name he called me, every finger he would break when I didn't obey, all scars branded on my heart and soul.  All terrible, painful memories, wounds that still open up and bleed sometimes, pain that is still fresh as the day they occurred.  Sometimes I can still feel the sting of the hand on my cheek, I find myself holding my cheek as I recall that huge, angry hand coming at me.  Tears stain my cheeks now as I recall those times.  These are my hands, fingers that are still bent and painful.  Bones never reset, now even more painful as they age.  A hand that won't lay flat and fingers that will never be straight and pain-free.  A life-long reminder of pains suffered at the hands of another.

I've trusted people that have let me down time and again.  Have you?  Should we have learned not to trust as scars have piled up over the years.  Boss's that you've trusted to give you credit for jobs well done and then they take the credit and get the promotions, friends that you've rushed to help when they were in need and when you were in need they looked the other way, secrets you've trusted to your closest friend that was told to others, loves that broke your heart by lying or cheating on you, all these scars like the lash of a whip across your heart and soul.  Do you know these types of scars too?  Do you still feel the pain?  Is your heart heavy with memories similar to mine?  Does your mind remember every single little sting inflicted upon you in your entire life!
Do you often replay that terrible moment when the pain was at it's peak?
 

Some wounds heal, like my knee, and are just scars that we remember as we think about the past and the things we've done and things that have happened to us.  Other wounds never seem heal because the wound is so deep and the bleeding so tremendous, forever to remain a huge, gaping hole.

Do YOU keep making your old wounds bleed by not letting the pain of the past go? Do you pick at the wound in your soul until it starts bleeding again?

Scars should remind you of where you've been but they shouldn't dictate where you are going. Scars don't always have to be reminders of the pain we've suffered, they can be reminders of how strong we were to survive.  Every cruel intention done to you can help you find your independence. Even Jesus had scars but it didn't stop Him from going on to save the world.
     
 Angel