I met a guy at the gym recently. (My husband was with me!) As the guy talked to a friend of mine, I overheard him say, “Well, when you’re dead and come back to life, there must be a reason you’re still here.” Now, that’s not something you hear every day…at the gym or anywhere else. So, when my friend left, I asked this super healthy-looking guy about his story.

He works out all the time, but one day last December he was exercising on the track and suddenly dropped to the floor. Seven days later he woke up in the hospital to learn he’d had a heart attack and double bypass heart surgery. Now he has scars.

In our culture, scars are something nobody wants. They often remind of us mistakes we’ve made. So we cover them up. I had a cousin with whom I grew up. We went to school together and spent summers at the swimming pool. He was always the first one to throw off his shirt and dive in. But in his late teens, he went to a place he shouldn’t have. He was attacked and robbed. Though he survived, he was left w/ scars. He never took his shirt off in public again. Not only do we cover up scars, we try to make them go away. Last year, Americans spent around five billion dollars trying to make scars go away. We don’t like scars.

Yet scars aren’t all bad. Oh, we don’t want the hurts or injuries that produce them, but God can use even scars for good. Scars are the proof that we’ve been, not only hurt, but (at least in part) healed.

Scars can tell a story for God’s glory.
It’s broken people and sinful living that hurt us, but it’s God who heals us.

Paul had scars. Though not the bragging type, the Apostle Paul boasts about his scars to the Corinthians. Paul is in Corinth trying to tell folks that the door to joy and peace in life (both now & forever in Heaven) was opened wide by Jesus’ death on the cross for their sins & His miraculous return to life. Paul was trying to help the Corinthians open their hearts to Jesus, to receive the freedom of forgiveness he knew. So why did Paul brag about his scars? Well, there were false teachers in town lying about Paul so people wouldn’t listen to him. Paul didn’t care about his reputation or glory. Paul was spreading Jesus’ gospel for Jesus’ glory. On the dirt road to Damascus, Jesus had knocked “Christian-Killer Saul” off his feet and recommissioned him to be “Gospel-Spreader Paul.” So telling people about Jesus is what Paul had dedicated his life to – out of obedience to the Lord. Now these false teachers were trying to shut down that work. THAT’S why Paul brags about his scars in 2 Corinthians 11:23-25.

“I am more (a servant of Christ). I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea,”

Floggings, beatings, and stoning meant Paul was repeatedly left torn up, bruised and bloody. Paul had scars. But scars can tell a story for God’s glory. Paul’s scars tell of the God who is more powerful than death, the God who will not let us leave this world one minute before our work here for Him is done. Paul’s scars tell of the God who can carry His servants through the darkest times and then lift us up and set us back on our feet – to move forward in HIS strength, HIS power.

Are you in a dark time right now? From what do you need Jesus to lift you up and set you on YOUR feet? Maybe you feel life has beaten you up or thrown stones at you. Maybe you’ve been in a place you shouldn’t have been and someone hurt you – physically or emotionally or both. We can have scars on our bodies, but we can also have scars on our hearts. God can heal both the human body and heart. God can lift us up from physical hurt and emotional heartbreak. Will you ask Him to lift you up and set you on your feet? And if you have scars, let the scars tell the story of how God lifted you up & worked in your life. Our scars can tell a story for God’s glory.

Jesus had scars. After Jesus rose from the dead, He appeared to lots of people. One time, He literally walked through locked doors to comfort His frightened followers. (They’d seen Him die on the cross and they knew Rome had more crosses.) Jesus said, “Peace be with you!” and showed them His scars so they could be sure He was alive. His peace and presence left them “overjoyed,” but one disciple was missing – Thomas. So when the disciples told Thomas that they’d seen the Lord, he said, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

What’s going on here? These were Thomas’ closest friends – the guys he had spent three years alongside living with, learning from, and following Jesus. They were there when Jesus made the lame man walk & called Lazarus out of the grave, alive. Maybe Thomas was stuck in pain & self-preservation. Like the other disciples, Thomas had put all his faith in Jesus – counting on Jesus to be their rescuer. Yet all those hopes had come crashing down when Thomas saw His Lord & Messiah die on a cross. Maybe Thomas couldn’t bring himself to trust anything to do with Jesus again – not even if his dear friends told him Jesus was alive. Maybe he was afraid to take the chance of being hurt again.

Have you ever been in that place – so hurt that you don’t dare trust anyone? Even when we can’t trust people, we can trust Jesus. He is Light in the darkest darkness. He is hope when there seems to be no hope. In fact, Jesus goes to great lengths to help us trust Him. A week after Jesus’ first locked-room appearance, it’s déjà vu. He walks through the locked door again. Only, this time Thomas is there and hears, “Peace be with you!” What Thomas hears next obliterates his unbelief. Jesus said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas’ response? “My Lord and my God!

Jesus knew exactly what Thomas needed to believe – and there was nothing more important to Jesus than helping Thomas believe. Jesus knows exactly what you & I need to believe in Him, too – and there is nothing more important to Jesus than you and I believing in Him as our Lord and our God, too. He invites us to believe Him for our health crises, our work situations, our family conflicts, our relationship struggles, our postponed dreams, and our unscheduled disappointments. That’s why Jesus showed His scars. Jesus’ scars were what Thomas needed to believe. In fact, belief (both Thomas’ and ours) is why Jesus endured the death that GAVE Him the scars. Scars can tell a story for God’s glory.

What is Jesus speaking to you right now? Is Jesus saying, “Stop Doubting and Believe”? Or maybe you hear God telling you, “Whatever scars you have from whatever you’ve been through – let them tell a story that brings God glory.” Be ready to tell others how God has sustained you, what God has brought you through – like the guy at the gym.

The guy at the gym told me that he knows God has something else for him to do – because he’s still here. The scars on his chest tell the story of a God of healing – of the God who pulled him out of the grip of death & gave him a second chance. Is God telling you right now that He has something more for you to do? Is God offering YOU a second chance? Or maybe God is telling you that by – letting your scars tell a Jesus-focused story that brings God glory – you can offer someone ELSE a second chance. Peace be with you as you walk forward into all Jesus has or you!

If you want to read for yourself…
2 Corinthians 11:23-25
John 20:19-29