After having surgery a few months ago there is still a telltale sign reminding me of what happened. Even after several months, a tiny pink scar remains as an outward sign of what was. After all, as we go through life, most of us will end up with scars – some visible and others that may be hidden. Consequently, as I’ve thought about it, scars can be a double-edged sword. They can remind us of life and that we lived to talk about it. Or they can be a sign of hurt and loss, and those scars are not always seen with the naked eye.
If I could look inside my heart, I would see a deep, jagged scar from the day my heart was torn open upon being told my daughter had died. It wouldn’t look like the same carefully scalpel-cut scar from surgery. No, when your heart is ripped open due to death, it’s ugly and raw. Although it can’t be seen, the scar remains today even though it may not be a throbbing, crimson-red, bloody mess like it was in the beginning. But as I walk further down this road, the scar on my heart reminds me I am still living. Somehow I’ve survived one of the worst things that can happen to a parent.
What about the scars Jesus took on his body as a living sacrifice for us? It brought to mind the song, Scars in Heaven, which has been viewed over 13 million times on YouTube! Those scars depict the greatest love of all. God could have chosen to remove Jesus’ scars; instead, he kept them as an outward sign that he lived and died for us. As I ponder this, it’s given me a different perspective on my scars. We will all go through things, whether seen or unseen, but one day these wounds will be gone forever.
While we remain on this side of heaven, we will each bear our own scars as a sign we lived – through good times and bad. One day, we will join our loved ones in heaven, and the wounds we carry will no longer be. Until then, I will hold my love deep in my heart for my girl with the remembrance that she lived. She is no longer suffering, and the hurt she carried in this life is gone.
If I had only known the last time would be the last time
I would’ve put off all the things I had to do
I would’ve stayed a little longer, held on a little tighter
Now what I’d give for one more day with you
‘Cause there’s a wound here in my heart where something’s missing
And they tell me that it’s gonna heal with time
But I know you’re in a place where all your wounds have been erased
And knowing yours are healed is healing mine
The only scars in heaven, they won’t belong to me and you
There’ll be no such thing as broken and all the old will be made new
And the thought that makes me smile now even as the tears fall down
Is that the only scars in heaven are on the hands that hold you now