I had never seen myself without it.

There are pictures of me when I was about 4 years old, wearing a sleeveless shirt…and there it was: a scar on my left shoulder.  

As I have gotten older, unfortunately the scar has grown along with me.  I try to carefully choose my clothing to avoid it showing.

A few weeks ago, I wore a particular dress that didn’t conceal it as much as I would have liked but I wore it anyway.  I didn’t realize it but that day, someone had taken a picture and caught my side profile in it.

When I saw the picture, I realized that something was different. It had been edited and the majority of the scar had been removed.  I couldn’t believe it.  That’s what my arm would look like without the scar?? I loved it.  I wish that’s how it always looked. I kept going back to that picture just so I could see it.

But that isn’t reality.  My scar is a real part of me.  

I think about things that have happened in my life that I wish I could edit.  Decisions I made, relationship struggles, my disappointments, weaknesses and insecurities – it’s all the stuff that I wish weren’t a part of me.  

But that isn’t reality either.  My scars on the inside are also a real part of who I am.

One of my favorite stories in scripture is about the woman from Samaria.  In John 4, we read that she went to the well at the sixth hour…which is about noon.  According to commentaries, this was not the usual time for women to draw water so she was likely the only one there.

It looks like someone else was trying to hide something too.

Jesus shows up and engages her in a conversation that covered everything from hydration to worship.  But between all of that, He starts talking to her about her scars.

What happens afterwards is the surprising part.  Instead of hiding in shame, she runs to the village and says, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?”. John‬ ‭4:29‬ ‭ESV‬‬

There was something about her time with Jesus that allowed her to not just accept her scars but also to display them. And people met Him because of it.

Our scars may be different but there is one thing we definitely have in common…When our scars encounter our Savior, our stories can be used for His glory.  ~Anu

Photo by Milan Surbatovic on Unsplash