Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Letting Scabs Heal

Healing Scab
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Scab.jpg
The following was posted as a status update on Facebook April 30, 2012. It well describes what I believe God is doing with me at the present moment. Trying hard not to pick at the scab.

I was thinking today about scabs. No, not those who cross picket lines, but that crusty stuff that forms over a wound. Our tendency is to try to remove that scab before its time. We don't like that ugly, itchy patch of clotted blood, and want it to go away.

But scabs indicate that healing is taking place underneath. It is needed to cover the wound until the body has completed the job of healing.

When we are wounded emotionally, psychologically, or spiritually, healing takes time. Remember that Jesus did not always heal people immediately; sometimes there was a process involved. (Mark 8:22-25) We like to try to force the process to an early completion, but, like picking at a scab, our efforts can end up making things worse and hamper what God is trying to do.

Even after the scab has loosened and the wound has healed, there is often a permanent scar. Scars can be a reminder not to repeat stupid behavior so an accident is not repeated.

Scars can also be an indication that something good has been done to you. Those of us over 45 or so have a vaccination scar from when we were inoculated against smallpox. The healthcare professional who gave us the injection didn't do it because she wanted us to have an ugly mark on our shoulder. She did it in order to prevent a fatal disease.

God sometimes allows us to be scarred for our own good. He allows certain circumstances into our lives because He is trying to lead us in a certain direction which will avoid greater heartache, because He wants to create an empathetic spirit within us... or for a myriad of other reasons that might never become apparent to us.

Is it obvious that there is a "scab" or "scar" in your life? Be patient. Let God use it for the purpose for which He allowed it.

"Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves... and keeps us present before God. That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good." Romans 8:26-28 in The Message