Tag Archives: Positive Thinking

Devotional

Turning Your Scars Into Stars

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Read John 19:20-29

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“Look at My hands. Look at My feet. You can see that it’s really Me. Touch Me and make sure that I am not a ghost, because ghosts don’t have bodies, as you see that I do.” (Luke 24:39, NLT)

StarsA couple of weeks ago I was eating out at a restaurant with my wife and daughters. During the meal we were sharing in memories of the home we used to live in and we were laughing about how our cat, Sophie, was so cute and adorable when she was little. At one point, I looked up at my youngest daughter and I was reminded of a not so good incident that we had with the other cat we used to have, George. On my daughter’s right cheek is a huge scar and seeing that scar reminded me of the horrible memory of George, what he did to my daughter, and how we could not longer keep him.

My youngest, at the time she was around 7 years old, was playing in a big box as children often do. When she came out of the box, George attacked her clawing at her face. He severely scratched her on her right cheek and nearly got her left eye with the other claw (literally only a centimeter away). This wasn’t the first time he had done this. He had attacked her while she was hugging her mom, and had attacked her another time severely scratching up her legs. The first two times we passed off as being an accident. Perhaps our daughter was playing with him and he was playing rough. But the third time pushed us over the edge. We knew we couldn’t keep him, especially after he nearly took my daughter’s left eye.

The horror of that moment had flooded me and I started my shaking my head in disbelief. “What Dad,” asked my daughter? “I just can’t believe he did that to you,” I replied. “Perhaps we can get that cream the doctor had said helps to remove scars,” I said to her. My daughter put her hand over her face and shook her head no. “I don’t want to get rid of my scar,” my daughter protested. “I want to keep it because so I can remember George.”

George was her favorite cat. She loved him and it was very hard for her when we took George to the animal shelter, especially when we learned what they were going to put him to sleep because they could not give him to another family if he had a history of attacking people. It still hurts me to think of it and, clearly it still hurts my daughter as well. Even more that that, my daughter still loves him and wants to keep her scar because of her love for him. The more I reflected on that, the more I realized the truth behind it.

How often we go through life, picking up scars along the way. We get battered down by circumstances and, sometimes, we even get battered down by other people. Many of us try to hide those scars, to mask them, and to pretend they were never there to begin with; however, scars never truly go away, do they? There really isn’t some special cream we can rub on our hurts, our fears, our insecurities and all of the other scars we collect throughout life. There isn’t any magic elixir that will remove the scars we carry with us.

Even Jesus, in a post-Resurrection body, had scars to show his disciples when he appeared to them. The holes in his hands, feet and side were still there, still visible. In fact, those scars were very much a part of Jesus’ transformed identity, in the same way that my daughter’s scars are a part of hers. Rather that trying to erase the scars, rather than trying to bury them or hide them or pretend they never existed, we should acknowledge their existence. We should grieve the loss, the hurt, the circumstances that caused them and, just as importantly, we should also acknowledge the person we’ve grown to be as a result of them. While no amount of reflection will justify the suffering we’ve been through, it will help us to move beyond the suffering, remembering where we’ve come from, and resurrect into a person transformed by the grace of God in spite of the experiences that tried to keep us down. Allow God to, as Robert Schuller once coined, “turn your scars into stars.”

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
“Turn your scars into stars.” – Rev. Dr. Robert H. Schuller

PRAYER
Lord, help me to turn my scars into stars so that I can move beyond them, without forgetting them, into the life you’ve called me to. Amen.

Devotional

Blessed With a Flat Tire

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Read Acts 9:1-8, 17-18

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE

“We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

flat-tire“This is just going to be a great day!” I yelled out in my head. It was an hour before I was supposed to be at work. The last thing I needed was a flat tire, and it was one of the brand new tires too! Go figure. Now what was I going to do? I sat there staring helplessly at the tire. “What am I going to do?” After a moment or too of self-pity, I came to the following definitive answer: “You are going to change that tire and put on the spare. That’s what you are going to do.”

In changing that tire, my daughter got to see her daddy at work and said, “Dad, I didn’t know you knew how to do that.” I smiled and fondly remembered when I was a kid and I first saw my dad changing a tire. He was like superman to me and I felt safe around him, because he could fix anything. I smiled again, thinking that my daughter just shared in that same experience I had as a kid, and I while I certainly can’t fix everything, what a blessing to share in that experience with her. What a blessing!

Have you ever been in situations where things just don’t seem to be going as planned and you are at a loss as to what to do? Have you ever been so flabbergasted at the situation that you find yourself momentarily paralyzed it? Perhaps you’ve stood there, jaw agape, asking “What am I supposed to do now?” Or perhaps you asked, “Why is this happening to me?” We’ve all been there and have asked those questions.

Later that day, I happened to read an article about a teenage boy who went missing on New Year’s Day. A photographer for USA Today, was supposed to be at the White House, ended up with nothing to do as the President was still on vacation. With all of the unexpected extra time, she walked the streets trying capture pictures to express how cold it wass and took a shot of a man bundled up next to a sewer vent trying to keep warm. As it turns out, that man was the missing teen and when his parents saw the picture they notified the police who then found and reunited the teen with his family.

That story caused me, and it should cause all of us to pause, especially in our “why me moments.” The photojournalist could have complained about not being where she expected to be…she could have complained about all of the extra time; however, she accepted the change of plans and ended up saving a life in the process. Rather than be paralyzed by the relatively trivial circumstances, she chose to do something constructive with her time and, for the boy and his family, it paid off.

Today’s challenge is for you to rise up out of the midst of your circumstances and do something positive in the midst of the changes surrounding you. Like Paul on the road to Damascus, we never know when we will run into life altering obstacles that stand in our way, blocking us from reaching the destinations we have chosen for ourselves. We can look at the obstacle as a curse and a hindrance, but where will that lead us? Rather, God is calling us to see the potential blessing in our changed plans and in our circumstances. Sure, the circumstances themselves may not be welcome; however, God’s ability to work good through all things, and in spite of all circumstances, is a very welcome indeed! So smile and see the hidden blessing in your circumstances.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

“Turn your scars into stars” – Dr. Robert Schuller

PRAYER

Lord, open my eyes to the hidden blessing in all things. Make me a hidden blessing to others. Amen.