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Hey sweet OBSer! Brenda here to chat with you.
This conversation may be tough, but I promise not to leave ya hangin'! There will be plenty of hope hugs at the end of this post. So pour yourself a cup of coffee or your favorite warm drink, so we can get comfortable chatting together ... Ready?
Pain. It hurts. It wounds. It scars ... and it's inevitable. And believe me, I've had my share of it! I know you have, too.
Because of this, pain is something we oftentimes try to avoid, isn't it? But in Chapter 13 of #ShesStillThere, Chrystal Evans Hurst reminds us,
"If we skip the pain, we skip part of the process."
Years ago, I was "marked by pain" and didn't know or understand where to find help to heal. But I ended up reaching out to a Christian counselor, who helped me see my pain had purpose. This helped me so much because like Chrystal says:
"When you know your pain has a purpose, it changes your perspective."
Yes, my perspective changed when I searched for help and found an amazing truth in God's Word: God had a purpose! (Psalms 147:3; Jeremiah 29:11 AMP)
With purpose found, joy came and healing followed. My wounds still brought scars, but I like to call them "beauty marks" now because no longer am I marked by that pain from my past — now I'm marked with beauty from God's truth!
Like Zephaniah 3:17 tells us, God will save us and rejoice over us with shouts of joy! Shouts of joy, my friend! And this calls for a celebration because, like our VOW tells us, this is where we find our strength — in the joy of the Lord!
"For the joy of the Lord is your strength." Nehemiah 8:10b (NASB)
As we continue this third week, I'll be praying over you. Let's hold onto our verse this week, so we can remember the joy of the Lord is our strength. And then we can move forward, allowing Him to transform our scars to beauty marks.
#HopeHugs,
-Brenda
Reflect and Respond:
Do you recognize your scars as God's "beauty marks"? And if so, how has this change of perspective helped your progress of healing from your pain?
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