Wounds

"Wounds so deep, they never show, they never go away.

Like moving pictures in my head, for years and years they've played."

-from "Easier to Run" by Linkin Park

“I’m not sure that anybody who lived through that one hasn’t carried with him, in some hidden ways, the scars. Perhaps that is the factor that helps keep Easy Men bonded so unusually close together.” -Captain Richard Winters, from Easy Company, WWII

"Scars remind us that the past was real." -William Shakespeare

Do any of you remember those old cliche kung fu movies? They always start out in such a way where they show the hero as a baby with his family. Then the villain comes in and murders the child's family, burns down the house and it shows a dramatic scene of the baby crying alone in the dark.

Then for the rest of his life (at least in the movie), he is driven by only one desire: revenge. That festering wound in his heart became his identity. It was the only thing he desired: to see the man who killed his family dead.

Recently, I have been thinking a lot about wounds. We are a people who in many ways can let wounds define us. Many charities are started because of a person seeing a wound. Invisible Children, for example was started because this group of guys stumbled across a remnant of African orphans running from child soldiers in Africa. They were dirty, hungry, and wounded in more ways than one. Seeing them so deeply moved them to action.

Our wounds can drive us. Sometimes certain wounds even from our past if they hurt us deep enough propel us forward in how we think of ourselves, others and even God. If we had festering wounds from an abusive father, seeing God as a loving Father is extremely hard for us.

But you know...God talked about wounds.

"But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed." -Isaiah 53:5 (NIV, emphasis mine)

Wounds we've experienced through hard times can define our entire lives. But then we see Jesus. He bore the wounds of sin, both physical with the cross and even more so spiritual with the wrath of God.

You see, when God looks at us as followers of Christ, He doesn't see the wounds from our past sins and sufferings, He sees the wounds of Jesus.

In Jesus, wounds bring on a whole new meaning. We can exchange our wounds for His....

Our wounds bring bondage, His bring freedom.

Our wounds bring suffering, His bring peace.

Our wounds bring chaos, His bring order.

Our wounds bring infection, His bring healing.

Our wounds bring sin, His make saints.

Our wounds are filthy, His are beautiful.

Our wounds show imperfection, His were perfect.

Let's make that exchange!

Strength in Hardship

“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” -Luke 22:31-32

This verse is sobering for a variety of different reasons. It was said by Jesus to Simon hours before he would deny even knowing Jesus. Take a walk with me through it.

“Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat” - Just like Satan wanted Simon, Satan wants us. He wants to “sift us like wheat”. He wants to wear us down, and not just with temptation and sin. He can also wear us down with busyness and a works-based mentality. A sobering quote that I heard once is, “If the devil can’t kill you, he’ll make you busy.” Satan wants to do anything he can to distract us from God, His plan for us, and to prevent us from sacrificing everything for Jesus.

Things get hard as a Christian, which is not really shared much in the mainstream American Christianity today. People say that God delivered us from harm (which He did), but that harm is of everlasting punishment and damnation. That harm is not always something like physical healing or deliverance from a specific addiction. It can be, but it not always is. Christianity is HARD. There is PAIN in walking with Jesus because there is an internal battle with sin that we war against. There can also be persecution from others. People can lose friendships and even lose ties with family through being Christians.

“but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail.” - What a wonderful thing to meditate on: Jesus prayed for Simon! Do you think that Jesus is praying for us too? I know He’s God, but He prays to His Father and is currently, as I’m typing this, interceding for me and every other Christian on this planet as they struggle through sin to get to Him.

“And when you have turned again” - I find such hope in that phrase! Jesus didn’t say “if”, but “when”! He knew Simon would turn back to Him after this brief time of failure and folly. He knew because He is God and He always knows the future, but He also knew because He is God and absolutely none of His plans can be thwarted! (Job 42:2)

“strengthen your brothers” - Jesus already gave Simon a job, even when He knew Simon was going to fail miserably. That’s like a manager telling an unfaithful employee, “Hey, I know you’re not going to show up for work tomorrow, but when you return the next day, I would like you to lead a training session for your co-workers.” I’m not saying you should skip work tomorrow, but isn’t that cool? Jesus knew what pain Satan was going to put Simon through, knew he was going to come back, and then gave Him a job as Peter, THE ROCK!

Are you going through a season where it is just REALLY HARD to follow Christ? The worship songs all sound the same, the pastor’s sermons sound the same, the Bible devotions sound the same, you space out in your prayer times, and you stumble over sinful thoughts and actions. Remember this promise: If you are in Christ, God will never, ever, under any circumstance let go of you (Rom. 8:38-39).