A physical scar. Impressions branded on our souls.
Some folks live with them every day. One is visible on the outside. One is felt emotionally on the inside. Some memories we would like to forget, such as military personnel who remove their tattoos.
Ann Voskamp shares a flashback about a tragic accident involving her sister: “Memory’s surge burns deep. That staining of her blood scorches me, but less than the blister of seeing her uncovered, lying there. She had only toddled into the farm lane, wandering after a cat, and I can see the delivery truck driver sitting at the kitchen table, his head in his hands, and I remember how he sobbed that he had never seen her. But I still see her, and I cannot forget. Her body, fragile and small, crushed by a truck’s load in our farmyard, blood soaking into the thirsty, track-beaten earth.”
My scar is eight inches long and runs down my chest. My open heart surgery reminder. That operation occurred two months before I walked my daughter down the aisle. Voskamp provides hope after struggling: “That cross on my wrist where I used to self-harm, that cross keeps relentlessly suturing me together.”
Jesus has scars from His crucifixion, and He cares about the marks left on our souls. Consider what He did to a skeptical man: “Then he 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 said to him, ‘My Lord and my God’” (John 20:27-28 NIV).
One day a man, the God-man, will come to our rescue. When Jesus the warrior comes, He will reveal another mark. An eternal tattoo, if you will. “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war” (Revelation 19:11 NIV).
Don’t let what you are going through damper the hope of your future promise from the warrior on the horse.
(Photo courtesy of pixabay.)
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Nelson Haynes spent fifteen years in full-time youth ministry before entering nineteen years of managing long-term disability insurance. He has a Masters in Christian Education (M.A.) from Dallas Theological Seminary. He loves dating his wife and spending time with his two daughters and one son in-law. He follows the adventures of his two Labrador Retrievers, Bentley and Sadie. His secondary hobbies, besides writing, are riding his mountain bike and painting watercolors. You can read his weekly creative meditations on his writer’s blog at www.nelsonhaynes500words.com.