Scars

"I show my scars so that others know they can heal." - Rhacelle Nicol

Oftentimes, we cannot see the greatness in ourselves or the gifts that God has blessed us with simply because it seems as if no one else has seen our gifts either. Typically, this happens when others have conditioned us to believe that we are not of much value. But we are valuable, especially in God's eyes. The way others have treated us or our life experiences do not define us. Others leave us with scars that, ultimately, only He can heal.

Our Father has made us a promise, though, and He never fails at keeping His word. His promise is to give us beauty for our ashes. Jesus was left with horrendous scars, yet God brought astonishing beauty from Jesus’ pain. The pain that He so selflessly endured for us all. Let that sink in. His scars are for you and me. How much more do we need to be loved?

I’d like to share a spoken word with you that was written by a precious soul that I’m so lucky to call my friend. She has many scars, just as we all do. She created a post on Facebook a few days ago that read, "I can't explain why I feel like I need to share this. But here is another spoken word that I wrote. (Spelling is not my strong thing)", along with screenshots of the poem she had written. Before making my way through the entire poem, I thought, "This is AMAZING!".

The Holy Spirit doesn’t make mistakes when He gives us that nudge to do something that we are extremely uncomfortable with. God doesn’t mind if she’s shy. He doesn’t mind if she’s honest when writing about her deep, dark feelings and thoughts. And most of all, He doesn’t mind that "spelling is not her strong thing". He sees her worth and capabilities and has blessed her with a gift that I had to share with you. I’m so grateful that she has given me the opportunity to publish this amazing poem on my blog. I did not run the poem through a grammar or punctuation checker, simply because I wanted it to be original and exactly how she wrote it. He loves the perfectly imperfect.

Thank you, Catie Shanholtz, for allowing me to share your words with others. I know this is probably extremely uncomfortable for you, but I've learned that if God wants to use us, it's going to be uncomfortable. Embrace it. Lord knows I’m not shy about sharing your work for you. 🤣 I pray God continues to bless you in abundance and opens many doors for your poetry to be heard. I adore you!

Scars

How I wish I could

Cover up my scars

Pretend they aren't there

They seem to be so ugly

They seem to be so unreal

In my mind....most days

But I love what they represent

A time when You carried me

Through the fire

And brought me out alive.

I am scaried that my wounds

And my story

Will make people leave

Who I so desperately want in my life

But that is a risk

That I need to take

Be willing to take

I don't want surface friendships

My scars seem to be deformed

They look to big

They seem to not make sense

They are the kind that never seem to heal.

But with You

And what You have done in me

They seem to not be so

Ugly

So Lord, let me be

Proud of my scars

Because they will point to

YOU!!

Written by: Catie Shanholtz

"I have written your name on the palms of my hands." - Isaiah 49:16