healing and scars.....

healing...can be spiritual, physical, emotional, mental. it can take a few days, or it can take a lifetime. it can involve as little as a band aid and some ointment, it can be extensive surgeries, it can be hours and hours of therapy and medications, it can be many talks with a christian friend. it can be as close as a prayer, and as far as unbelief. healing is something some pursue, while others turn their backs on it.

it is hard to open up to the world those dark, hidden places within that we retreat to. we want to feel safe in our deep dark tunnels where we think we can't be hurt anymore. (so. not. true!) tunnels carved out of pain, heartache, loss and trauma. when we talk about these dark places we become vulnerable, i become vulnerable. well here i go.......

i have recently completed a bible study on healing what's hidden and have learned that for any deep emotional wound caused by a trauma to fully heal it must begin from within.  deep within. the healing must be totally complete in order for the scar tissue to form and hold. 

true trauma healing from the inside out will leave a permanent scar within.  these scars serve a purpose.  physical scar tissue can be rough, inflexible, painful, seen as unflattering and unwanted.  maybe you feel that way as a result of internal scars. i want to challenge you to think of your scars, whether physical or internal, as strengthening, protecting, a reminder of what not to repeat, a part of the beautiful person and soul God created you to be.  that each and every scar you carry, i carry, does not change how we are seen by God, does not change how much we are loved by God, does not change the purpose God created us for.  to touch the lives of others whom God loves with our stories of how He healed us through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus, spiritually, then how He heals our trauma tunnels internally. 

i have been forever changed by my traumas. but change isn't always a bad thing! am i completely how God originally designed me to be? no i am not, but my trauma scars add to the rich story that is my life. a life that has had it's share of good and bad.  results of my own poor and selfish choices. the constant in my life has always been my Lord and my faith in Him.  my help and my healing comes from my relationship with Jesus.  i gave my life to Him, acknowledging who He is; the son of the most High God, what He did; paid my sin debt which i could never pay on my own, who forgave my sins; past, present and future and loves me unconditionally.  this was the beginning of my healing and over my lifetime will continue until He calls me home to Heaven. 

He takes all that was and is bad in my life and uses it to His good and glory. yes, i signed the waiver and it's allowed! (attempt at humor, not very good at it!)  He shows me that in Him I am loved, forgiven by His great mercy, accepted as His child and my life has purpose and meaning.  has my journey to heal been accomplished? no-i am discovering that there are some things that have "surface" closure but need a bit more healing underneath so they can scar over once and for all.

so the process of re-opening a trauma wound, learning more about who i am today as a result of it and working with my Lord and those He leads me to, help me get the "gunk" out.  then i can fully make peace with my trauma, fully heal and scar over and move forward until my last breath.  then i will go home and be scar free for eternity with the One who bears His scars, willingly, for me........

James 5:16, John 14:6, Matthew 7:13-14, Acts 14:12, Psalm 121:1-2, Proverbs 17:22, Solomon 16:12, Psalm 119:50, John 14:7, 2Kings 20:5, Jeremiah 17:14, Psalm 34:18