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

(A Good Friday Meditation)

How did the crowd get from “Hosana, Hosana” on Sunday to “Crucify Him, Crucify Him” on Friday?
How did their view of Jesus go from king to criminal so fast?

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(About a 4-minute read)
Ready to put 2023 in the rearview mirror? Looking for a fresh start? Well, God is in favor and He specializes in doing new things! Doing new things is not just a side job; it is at the very center of His nature. In fact, Isaiah 43:18-19 offers us some choice words from God on this topic.

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I took a month off from blog writing for a little summer travel.
Trips. Adventures. Journeys. I love them all.

Did you know life is a journey?
We all start somewhere and end up somewhere.
You and I — right now — are on a journey. And the Bible has a lot to say to help us on our way. There was a time when God’s people, the Israelites, were on a journey from Egypt to a land God had promised them. Looking at how God helped His people on that ancient journey can open our eyes to how He helps us journey through life today.

A few years ago, my husband and 20-year-old son talked me into running a 5K race. A 5K, which is about three miles, is not such a big deal for your average runner. However, unless there’s a bear behind me or ice cream in front of me, I am NOT a runner — average or otherwise. But I had agreed to run and I kept my word. So I embraced that 5K race as my journey that hot July morning.

My husband, an experienced runner, had mapped out a slow pace, but my plan (and our son’s) was to see how fast we could get that thing over with. So, when the starting gun fired, my six foot tall son took off running fast and my 5′ 2″ self tried to keep up. We were both huffing and puffing before the halfway point, let alone the finish line. And there were hills. On the way up those hills, my burning legs made it quite clear that they wanted the journey to be over. Guess what. I didn’t run that race very well. In fact, if we’re honest, some people might call what I was doing after the halfway point — walking. I had tried to rush the journey, but couldn’t handle the pace I’d picked.

That’s kind of what God warned His people, the Israelites, about when they were on their journey through the desert from Egypt to the Promised Land. He told them that, when they eventually came to their new land, it would take time for them to move in. God was going to move out all the pagan nations that worshipped false gods because their worship was detestable; they even sacrificed their children in fires built to their imaginary deities. God told the Israelites that this move-them-out-and-move-you-in process would not happen all at once. The journey would take time. That was true of Israel’s journey then and ours now. God is good and He is sovereign; He’s in charge of where we’re headed and when we’ll arrive. So we can trust that God is leading us to the right place at the right pace.

Let’s look, in a couple places in the Bible, at exactly what He told His people —

The Lord your God will drive out those nations before you, little by little. You will not be allowed to eliminate them all at once, or the wild animals will multiply around you.

Deuteronomy 7:22

I will…drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you. Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.

Exodus 23:28-30

Did you catch that phrase “little by little” in both verses? We need to get a feel for what that even means because today we live in a microwave society. Everything seems to happen in minutes. We live in a world of fast food and overnight shipping. News comes in 10-second soundbites and we expect our questions to be answered instantly by Google.

When God told the Israelites that their move into the Promised Land would be little by little, He wasn’t talking minutes or even months. He was talking years — seven to be exact. That’s how long it took to move the pagans out (mostly) and move God’s people in. Definitely not microwave moving. Now if God can do things instantly (and since He’s all-powerful, He can), why does He so often take so long (in our perspective)?

For one thing, He knows what needs to change in His people so we’re ready for the next place. He knows every transformation needed in our attitudes, actions, hearts, and habits in order to move us along on our journey from who we are today to who He created us to be. Incidentally, Jesus also knows that we like change about as much as getting a tooth pulled. After all, He created us and He rubbed elbows with us when He walked the earth in human skin. He knows it’s really hard for us to do an extreme character make-over all at once. So God is a God of process. God does not need time. He always was and always will be. God lives outside of time. He created time for us; it allows our journey of growth to be gradual. That’s why He told the Israelites He’d move them in little by little. It’s actually a blessing that God helps His people work through things little by little.

God couldn’t give all the land to His people all at once because He had to get them ready to take care of the land — and themselves — in their new place. God had to make sure His people learned how to grow food in the new land, how to take care of livestock in the new land, and how to be safe from the wild animals in their new land.

So what might “getting ready for the new place” look like in our lives today? Let’s say you’re headed to a new job. There are things you need to learn before you can expect to function well in your new role. For food — you probably won’t be growing onions or raising cows at the office, but you’ll need to know how to find and navigate the cafeteria. I doubt that there are wild animals like the Israelites had lurking in your office, but you may need to learn to outmaneuver the “new employee always makes the coffee” trap, the office bully, or other workplace hazards. The key is, assimilating all these new skills and bits of information won’t happen all at once. So don’t get discouraged or give up when things move slowly. God has not abandoned you. He promises every believer that He will be with you wherever you go. When things seem to move slowly, God is just working all things together for the good of those who love Him. God helps His people work through things little by little.

Do you remember what Exodus 23:28-30 said? If the people got all their land at once, then the wild animals would be too numerous for them. Do you see? God wasn’t being mean by not giving them everything they wanted at once. He was actually looking out for them — just like He does for us when He doesn’t give us everything we want at once. The pace God gives us is for our good.

God isn’t just getting us ready for our new place. He’s also getting our new place ready for us. Remember — God had to remove those pagan people from the land where His people were going. Those child-sacrificing pagans were not only obstacles to God’s people moving in, they could have had a bad influence on the people God loved. God created life; He calls children a gift and reward. What if His people learned to sacrifice their children from the pagans? (Sadly, eventually God’s people would adopt pagan practices and would actually lose for a time the land God had given them.) But at this point in history, God had to keep His people separate from the pagans. He had to protect His people from those evil influences and from the suffering and other consequences that come from living life in ways that are not God’s.

Is it possible that God has you moving slowly on your journey to protect you? I wonder if He has you on a slow journey right now because He is working on removing from your future place people who may have a bad influence on you. Or maybe He is giving you time to remove from yourself bad habits or “bad-influence” people? God wants you and me to be surrounded by people who will support us in growing closer to Him, and in walking with Him on the journey He’s prepared for us — to the place He’s prepared for us — at the pace He’s prepared for us. The pace God gives us is for our good.

Now…about that race. I had tried to run that race faster than I could handle, not little by little (which is often God’s way of doing things.) I should have been able to complete it. You see, I had trained and built up my running endurance. I had downloaded the “Couch Potato to 5K” app and had practiced running that distance several times — but I had practiced at a slower pace, at the right pace for me. When I tried to finish that journey too quickly, I tired out fast and didn’t finish well.

The same thing can happen in this journey of life if we don’t go at God’s pace.
Going at God’s pace allows Him to strengthen us, refresh is, and teach us along the journey. Going at God’s pace lets us strengthen the muscles of trusting Him and making wise choices. As we go at God’s pace and run (or walk) the journey He has designed for each of us, God is preparing us for the place He has planned — and getting our future place ready for us. God is a God of process. He works little by little. We can trust that our good and sovereign God is leading us to the right place at the right pace.