I’ve been accumulating scars lately.

Some you can see. Others you can’t.

I know you have scars too. 

Some of mine were etched on my heart this summer as my loved ones, including my daughter, battled cancer. Another one was carved in my arm when I went in for a routine checkup, and they found melanoma on my shoulder. It was a little freckle. I thought the surgery would be minimal too.

It wasn’t.

I’m so sorry to show this to you. I tried to make it prettier — you know, filters an all, but it’s still gross. It’s what it looks like when someone cuts four inches out of your shoulder and then pulls it back together. I remember thinking during the surgery, “Why my shoulder?” There are other parts of me that could have used a 4-inch reduction.

When I went to get my stitches removed, the doctor stopped and stared at my face. “I think there’s something on your lip,” he said.

He put a needle.in.my.lip. Two of them, to be exact, and took a biopsy.

Side note –> I decided right then and there I never wanted botox. Needles in the face aren’t worth it. I’ll take my wrinkles, thank you very much. But I digress. . .

So, the biopsy came back cancerous too. I’m currently meeting with surgeons and plastic surgeons — because they plan to do put more needles in my face in a few weeks and take away a bit of my lip in the process.

For a moment I wanted to shake my fist. Not at God, but at the enemy of my soul. He’s sneaky. I thought we were on the other side of the battle, and he decided to hit me one more time.

Maybe you feel scarred right now.

Maybe those scars are visible, and maybe they are deep inside where no one can see. John 10:10 says that the enemy seeks to steal (our wellbeing), kill (our spirit), and destroy (our faith in God), but there’s a second half of that verse that makes this Jesus-loving woman want to shout.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. John 10:10 (ESV)

No matter how wounded we feel, how deeply scarred we are, Jesus came so that we could have an abundant life.

Not filled with stuff.

Not trouble free.

Not without scars.

Instead, we are filled from the inside out. Jesus walked through suffering and He walks through scar-inducing places and situations with us. We walk out the other side, a little battered, a little bruised, but overflowing in the power of the Holy Spirit.

An abundant life is a life empowered by the indwelling of Jesus Christ.

So, I continue on in this harder season. Many of you are right there with me. Some of your houses are 6 feet deep in water right now because of a hurricane. Others have watched their home and everything they own go up in flames. Maybe you feel wounded by a past relationship, or a current one.

I don’t know about you, but I’m going to live in the abundance Jesus promises.

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An empowered life. A life overflowing with His presence. A life marked by Him, rather than defined by my scars. I love my Savior and I’ve been rescued by Him. If I have to walk around with scars on my heart, on my body, and even on my face, they will never match the scars received by Jesus on my behalf.

 I’m choosing the promise of John 10:10 over the empty threat of an enemy who doesn’t realize that scars and wounds can’t touch my soul.

In a month or so, I’m having surgery. More needles. More stitches. I don’t know what to expect, but I do know this. My scars don’t leave me broken, but become a testimony of God’s goodness.

I’ll pray for you. You pray for me.

We’ll keep doing what God has asked us to do, scarred or not. We’ll throw our hands in the air and count every good thing that is around us, and inside of us, and we’ll stand together as we live an abundant life (a life defined by him, rather than our scars) together.

Suzie

Related resource

Come With Me: 31 Prayers for the Journey – Maybe you struggle to know how to pray. I’ve been there too.

This $1.99 E-book offers 31 prayers I’ve prayed through my own “Come With Me” journey.

They are gut honest and raw, and filled with trust and faith and joy.

They are for you, or a friend who is following Jesus, and longs for the words to express what is on their heart.

 

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