My young daughter has a scar at the top of her rib cage, just under her right arm. Sometimes I’ll go for weeks, even months, forgetting that it’s there. Then, in a moment, I’ll catch a glimpse of it. And, in that moment, it’s like I’m transported back in time.
I can see the doctor, in his turquoise scrubs, informing me that my four-year-old must have emergency lung surgery or very likely die. I can hear her small, weak voice asking me to please…please lay with her on the gurney. I remember the hospital hallway lights flickering on her fevered face as they wheeled the two of us down to the operating room. I can remember stroking her hair, telling her in the calmest voice I could muster that everything was going to be all right.
Three years later, you would never know that my laughing, dancing little girl went through that ordeal. But I remember it. I remember it when I see the scar.
I thought about that last night as I attended the kick-off concert for the Point of Grace/Selah tour and heard a powerful song from POG called “Heal the Wound.” The chorus goes like 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.
My daughter’s scar is a reminder of her ordeal but, much more, it’s a reminder of God’s mercy and faithfulness in our lives during those weeks. The song last night reminded me that scars aren’t just physical. So many of us have wounds from our lives, some fresh and some old. Have you asked the Lord to heal that wound? He will. Then thank Him for the scar. Thank Him every time you remember His unfailing love.
