Scars

At Hearts Alive and Free  camp in Lake City, MI two weeks ago, I saw a movie clip that really hit me hard. It's from the movie, Slumdog Millionaire. Jamal, his brother, and a friend, Latika, grew up together in the slums. Jamal and Latika fell in love, but got separated. They had a secret pact, though—he would be at the train station every day at a certain time, so that if she could get there, he'd be waiting. Finally, the day comes. Here's the scene:

When that day finally comes that they can be together, an enemy intervenes, kidnapping Latika, and slashing her face with a knife. She's now damaged goods, and has the scar to prove it.

Use your God-goggles and see Jamal as Jesus and you as Latika. He's been waiting for the time when you would be united in a Sacred Romance (great book, by the way, John Eldredge and Brent Curtis). But the enemy has a different idea, and we get snatched away, wounded, and marked forever. The scars can be physical, from abuse, suicide attempts, or illness, or emotional scars from abuse, depression, loss, and despair. They're hidden away and no one sees them. But we're all marked. None of us gets through this life without scars. And the enemy thinks he owns us.

What hit me so hard was realizing that I'm now marked by our son, Ben's death, and I have the scars to prove it. That clip put words to the feelings that I often hide. And God let me sit in that agony for awhile. Just like He might allow you to. We're damaged goods. We're not what we were supposed to be, damaged by the Garden, damaged by our own failures, damaged by others' sins, damaged by just living in this fallen world. And we need to feel it and know it so that we cry out for help. Masks and hiddenness just don't work very well, and keep us from the healing that God wants to do in us.

And then God showed me something else: Jesus is damaged goods, too. And He has the scars to prove it. Isaiah 53:4-5:  Surely he has borne our griefs  and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. (ESV) My scars now identify me not with the enemy who scarred me, but with Jesus! He has healed my wounds. And while my scars remain, they are His now, and I don't have to be ashamed.

Here's the last scene. Put your God-goggles back on and see this for what it really is: Your savior unveiling your scar, tenderly holding you, seeing you not as scarred, but as perfect again. And now entering into that Sacred Romance which we barely understand.

 

We all yearn to be loved like this, to be sought after. He's been pursuing, and like Latika, we need to stop and allow Him to come to us, be willing to be unveiled, and healed.