You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy, 12 that I might sing praises to you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever!
Psalm 30:11-12 NLT
This world is fallen, death is guaranteed for all, sickness is a surety, betrayal is bound to happen in one form or another, you will accumulate scars as a child of God during your life but we must always remember that our journey ends in heaven. We can spend the balance of our days asking why, or we can accept that why is never going to be answered and that God can cause us to Dance with the Scars even after events where we feel like we can’t even breath, where another step seems an impossibility where one more incident will be the undoing of our sanity. We can learn in time to Dance with the Scars when words like happiness and hope seem insulting to even suggest lie in the future. Once you have accepted that there is a starting line and sufficient time has passed for you to begin to begin life again again here is the crucial first step that allows you to get back out on the dance floor of life and enter the race again. “Don’t blame God, lean on Him!” There are events in life that are so brutal, so painful, the words of the closest friend or even spouse seem empty and unhelpful. I recently looked into the eyes of someone who had received some devastating news and found myself at a loss for words and all I could says was; “I don’t know what to say,” and we hugged and wept together. There are times where life is so painful even the words you yourself have shared with others seem empty and hollow because the pain is so deep, the sorrow so overwhelming. There are things that happen in life where hope is momentarily crushed, a reason for living destroyed, your mind cannot understand why this has been allowed by the God who said He loved you and would never leave you nor forsake you. Yet here you are, broken, hurting, suffering!
When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
Isaiah 43:2-3a NLT
Notice the Lord did not say, I am the Lord “your God” so there will be no waters or fiery trials, there will be no flames of oppression or rivers of difficulty. The Lord says (I’m paraphrasing) “When life happens, I am there for you!” I have to say dear hurting friend, that far too many Christians abandon hope when they need it the most. Hope, strength and healing when life happens can only come from God. We have heard the adage: “Time heals all wounds” but I have to say that I have seen little evidence of that apart from God. What I have seen is when life happens many become paralyzed by the event and never heal no matter how much time has passed. I have seen grown men and women with successful careers and loving families weep at the mention of the divorce of their parents 25 or 30 years ago. I have seen intelligent men and women who have been emotionally crippled when life happens and loving caring people abandon all and turn to drugs or drink to mask their pain. Much of the time this is because they never take the first step to Dancing with the Scars! Leaning on God instead of blaming Him. This is one of the most difficult aspects of life to deal with.
Excerpt from “Dancing With the Scars” now available on Amazon.
