Heal the Wound, Leave the Scar

(Part 2)

“But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds, declares the Lord.”

Jeremiah 30:17

In the culture that we live in, we don’t see scars as a sign of triumph over adversity. Instead, they are seen as marks of imperfection. We are embarrassed by them and try everything to cover them up. We see them as reminders of the wound. A wound we very much want to forget. For this reason, many people never really heal. In a roundabout way, they believe that if they don’t heal, they won’t scar. We want God to heal the wound without leaving any evidence that we were ever injured. If we cannot heal without a scar then many choose to live with an open wound.

An open wound is a wound that we experience the pain of everyday. It must be agitated daily as the wound is packed and dressed. The healing is hindered as the wound is forced to stay open. However, a wound that stays open too long becomes susceptible to infection. Spiritually speaking, an open wound that does not heal is vulnerable to unforgiveness, bitterness, hatred and depression. That is why Jesus declared in Luke 4 these words from the Prophet Isaiah:

“He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted.”

Jesus declared that He was sent not just to comfort us in our time of need, but to heal our wounds…to bind us up. Many of you have been wounded or have been left with some pretty ugly scars. You may feel like Jesus, in that your “visage”- your reputation, dreams, and aspirations have been marred. You think, how can God use me now? Will anyone every trust me again? Will anyone ever accept me again? Will anyone ever love me again? The answer is….Yes!

There is a beautiful song by the group Point of Grace entitled “Heal the Wound”. The lyrics of the chorus of the song are this:

Heal the wound but leave the scar
A reminder of how merciful you are
I am broken, torn apart
Take the pieces of this heart
And heal the wound but leave the scar

Scars are a sign of God’s mercy and goodness towards us. How He walked with us through some of the most difficult times of our lives. Let’s face it, the more battles we face the greater the potential to be wounded. Even so, we can take comfort in these words recorded for us in Isaiah 53:5:

“But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by His wounds we are healed.”

Lord, heal the wound, but leave the scar.

Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com/