stretch marks and scars

My last two posts have been quite long…  I just had a quick thought to share with you tonight.

The other day, I was reading my Streams in the Desert daily devotional. The subject was grief and suffering:

Sorrow causes deep scars, and indelibly writes its story on the suffering heart.  We never completely recover from our greatest griefs and are never exactly the same after having passed through them.  Yet sorrow that is endured in the right spirit impacts our growth favorably and brings us a greater sense of compassion for others.   Indeed, those who have no scars of sorrow or suffering upon them are poor.  “The joy set before” (Hebrews 12:2) us should shine on our griefs just as the sun shines through the clouds, making them radiant.          excerpt by J. R. Miller

As I read that last sentence, I immediately thought about stretch marks and scars. About how our skin is changed forever through wounds and through the physical toll of pregnancy.  How sometimes the scar tissue is shiny and smooth, and catches the light.  If you think about it, stretch marks and scars can truly appear radiant when the light shines on them.

Strange thought, I know.  You might not agree that your marks are radiant.  However, I’m sure that this inspirational perspective came from God.  He shines through my scars.  His provision and grace shine through my stretch marks.  These etchings on my body and my heart mean something.  They are a message to me and to the world that God can take the most painful things and bring something good out of them.

Will you let Him shine through your scars?