Let Your Battle Scars Heal!

By Janet Boynes Published on February 11, 2022

Do you live with visible battle scars? Are you still putting bandages on wounds that should have healed a long time ago? Perhaps you are still scratching the scab off and letting it bleed all over again. Each time you look at the scar you are instantly reminded of the reason it is there and the pain that was inflicted.

The Wound That Won’t Heal

Physical scars are much like emotional scars. The scar of the past has been attached to you for years, but you will not let the wound heal. Somewhere in your heart and mind you believe if you scratch the scab off, it will not look as bad or hurt as much. Perhaps if you scratch the scab off, when it heals this time it may not be as visible, and no one will notice. However, each time you bleed, the scab gets deeper and it takes longer to heal. After a while, the scar is too deep and becomes a permanent part of who you are.

What does your battle scar look like? How deep is that wound of the past that you allow to stay visible as a fresh wound?

A Gash Imprinted On Our Very Soul

Battle scars come by traumatic pain inflicted by some event or person of our past. They have jabbed into the very essence of our being. The wound was a gash into our very soul. We knew when we were wounded that it was a scar that would not just disappear over time. It would be imprinted in our emotions, thoughts, and actions. Each time we rise up to move on, we live it over again in our minds. We try to put on a façade that it does not exist, but one look in the mirror covers the beauty we are trying to see with the image that was created by the scar.

It is okay to cry, but after you are done, wipe your tears, get up, and walk into what God has in store for you.

Have you been knocked around by bad choices in the relationships you tied yourself into or the places you went? One bad decision led to another. Each choice brought you more heartache and heartbreak. You found yourself tied up into situations hard to get out of. You may have started to feel helpless or hopeless. You may not even want to look in the mirror anymore because what you try to see never shows up in the reflection in front of you.

Use The Scar as a Reminder

The memory of how the scars appeared may always linger but they do not have to control you. Yes, when we look at the scar, we see the result of something that happened, but it is a scar. It is the pain of our past. It is a reminder of where we don’t want to go again.

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Philippians 3:13 lets us know that we should forget those things that are behind us and reach for what is in front of us. Of course, it is easier said than done. Yet there is a very present help in all of our trouble and that help comes from the Lord (Psalm 46:1). When we are weak, He shows Himself strong. We were never meant to carry the load all by ourselves. Jesus reminds us to cast our care on Him because He truly and undeniably cares for us (I Peter 5:7), no matter how many bad choices we made and are still making.

It’s Time to Move Forward

Regardless of what you see when you look in the mirror, or how ugly the scar may have been, you are still loved and wanted by God. Shake off the negativity of what others have tried to impress into your thinking. Do not allow yourself to conform to what your past has tried to dictate. You are more than what was said by those that have tried to use or abuse you. You are more than a conqueror through God (Romans 8:37). Tell yourself that every day even though you do not feel like it. Keep telling yourself what God says.

This is it. Do not scratch that scab off any longer. It has bled for the last time. Let it heal. It is okay to cry, but after you are done, wipe your tears, get up, and walk into what God has in store for you. Make decisions that are going to help you keep your past under your feet. Pray and ask God for the help and strength you need to heal and to move forward. Some moments may be easier than others, but each moment forward is a step further away from what beat you down. Stay the course. You can get through it. You can overcome. Remind yourself every day that God has something greater for your life and you are going to get it. He holds it out for you to receive.

If you have been abused or are struggling with the hurts of your past, please do not hesitate to reach out to us for love, support, and encouragement.

 

Janet Boynes founded Janet Boynes Ministries in Maple Grove, Minnesota, in 2006. She authored the books Called Out: A Former Lesbian’s Discovery of Freedom, God & Sexuality, and her latest: God & The LGBT Community. Janet is an ordained minister under the Assemblies of God and travels the U.S. and overseas sharing a message of redemption and hope through the power of Jesus Christ.

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