Few things test our faith like pain and suffering. When we face deep difficulties, we are tempted to respond in different ways: One is anger: Why would God allow this to happen to me? I don’t deserve this. Then there is Denial: I will just ignore this and it will go away. These are people who don’t live in reality or deal with their pain. Another response is Depression: I can’t handle this and I allow myself to sink into despair. And then there is the response of retribution: I am going to get the person who did this to me. 

None of these responses, while deeply human, lead us to a healthy place. We do not control life’s circumstances but each of us has a choice as to how we respond to them. There is a better choice and one that God wants us to choose, to simply trust Him in whatever pain we face. To join God’s hall of fame of faith in Hebrews 11.

All of us have scars from life. I don’t want just scars, I want divine scars. Divine scars come from times when life comes undone - when hurt, tragedy, pain, unfairness, sorrow, and difficulty come into our lives - and we allow God to change our hearts in the process. They come when we choose to trust Him in our loss rather than turn to bitterness or despair. They are scars that have been redeemed for higher eternal purposes. 

I am fascinated that when Jesus rose from the dead, He rose with a new body, but still a human body, and He still bore the scars in his hands and feet. In fact, Jesus chose to identify with us as humans from the point of his incarnation, and when we see Him in heaven, we will see Him in human form with the scars.

Those scars are divine scars. They represent His death and resurrection for us. They represent His willingness to follow even when it was hard. His ultimate test came on the Thursday evening prior to his death when, through intense struggle, He chose to say “YES” to the father in those faithful words, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.” (Matthew 26:42) 

Many forget that Christ suffered not only in His death but in his life. Seven hundred years before His birth, the prophet Isaiah accurately described Christ in these terms: “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering.” (Isaiah 53:3) Think about the words “despised,” “rejected,” “sorrows,” and “suffering.” These words were the reality for much of Jesus’ life and ministry. His life was a life of choosing to follow His father, and that following included suffering and hard times.

Jesus told His disciples that their life of following Him would be like His following His Father, and that it, too, would include hardships. “Anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:38-39) The cross we are to take up is like the Cross of Jesus - a symbol of suffering. And following Him will mean losing our lives for His sake: Giving our lives to Him for His purposes rather than pursuing our own.

Why does God allow divine scars? God’s greatest goal for our lives is not to make us happy and content. His greatest goal is to help us become like Him in character and heart. That will mean times of sorrow and suffering, just as He faced sorrow and suffering. In fact, it is precisely in those times of hardship that He has the greatest opportunity to mold our hearts, character, priorities, and commitments.

And what happens when we suffer while following Jesus? When we choose to trust when the chips are down? When we experience sorrow as He experienced it? Paul puts it this way in his own life. “I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.” (Philippians 3:10-11)

The phrase “fellowship of sharing in his sufferings” is an amazing phrase. When we join Christ in His work, we also join Him in the sorrows, grief, and suffering. No longer am I experiencing sorrow, grief, and suffering by myself and without purpose. Now I do it in fellowship with Jesus - with Him and for Him. In the process, we are profoundly changed and become more like Him.

We should be proud of the divine scars we wear today. They are the result of following Jesus when the chips are down, of forging faith in the hard times, of learning to take the next step and walk to the next bend, and trusting God to be present. Divine scars are worthy scars. They change us. They make our hearts more like the heart of Jesus. Wear your divine scars with pride. They are proof of your faith forged in the realities of everyday life - and even of life undone.

Father, there are times when I am weary and wonder if I can go on. I ask You to be what You need for me in this moment. Transform my scars into divine scars that will mold and change me and honor you. I rejoice that my suffering is not without purpose, and that in my suffering, I share in the fellowship of your sufferings. Help me to see Your greater purposes in what I am walking through.

The Question for Today: What divine scars do I have in my life that I can thank God for today?