Pain is a part of life. 2 Corth. 1:8, 1:11

In fact, it is one of the very first parts of life. In childbirth, there is pain, and it is difficult to experience. Unfortunately, that is not where the pain ends in our lives. We deal with pain everyday in some form or another. Some of the pain are the results of our own poor choices; however other pain in our lives are sometimes the results of others poor choices.

It's in the journey through pain that we begin to define ourselves. The journeys of our lives make up the experiences that shape who we are.
“Experience is not what happens to us. It is what we do with what happens to us”
It is through pain that we have incredible stories and we have amazing images of the context and content of our lives. We need to understand that God does not hold our past against us, but the pain we endured during that time has incredible ability to mold us and define us.

 Like me, many of us have some outward signs of pain. We have scars and wounds that tell a story. We have events or people that we remember every time we see those scars.

For many of us, the scars that cause us the most pain are unseen. They are the results of poor choices and desperate actions that have led us away from what we dreamed or intended for our lives. I understand today that every scar tells a story.

The following passage from the bible helps us to understand how the Apostle Paul dealt with the pain in his life. It shows us his real self, his real hurt and his real need to depend on God.

⁸ For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: ⁹ But we had the sentence^b of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:  ¹⁰ Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us; ¹¹ Ye also helping together by prayer for us, that for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons thanks may be given by many on our behalf.

There are three basic principles we need to learn from this passage.

1)      Life can become overwhelming.

Have you ever at some point been completely overwhelmed with life? We can all relate to that. We all connect with the concept that life is tough sometimes and we are not sure we are going to survive. Notice that Paul not only feels like he is going to die, he expects to die. Life turns out not to be a grand adventure for Paul of changing the world, but it is at times a great struggle simply to survive. Paul dealt with all these issues in life. He was constantly being arrested, beaten, thrown out of town, and shipwrecked. No wonder Paul had such a hard time finding people to go on trips with him.
Paul seems to have gone through periods in his life of major depression and anxiety. On several occasions in scripture Paul uses the term or idea that he feels overwhelmed. Paul may have suffered from some type of emotional  and..or physical distress that plagued him throughout his life.

We all look to escape the pain in our lives. Paul was no different. We do not know exactly what his affliction was, but we know that God never took it away from him.

“To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:6-9 (NIV)

Paul wanted desperately to be finished with the torment he was going through. But he learned that God’s grace was powerful enough to sustain him.
We all face incredible hurts and pains in life and they are never easy to deal with.
For many of us, there are pains of childhood tragedy, of poor choices and sin that have plagued us forever and we would love simply to forget they ever occurred.

We will never be able to forget the pain that comes into our lives. It will always be apart of us because it shaped who we are.

God never wastes a hurt.

What we need to understand is that although we may wish it had never happened and we may wish circumstances of our lives were different, God has allowed us to go through them so that he may show up in your lives. So many people go through life mad at God and hurt that God allowed them to experience pain, but God’s desire is that we take the pain in our lives and we learn to grow from it.

2) God is faithful.

This may be one of the hardest things for people going through pain or living with pain to understand, but God is faithful to be a source of power and strength in our weakness.

“In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead. And he did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us.” 2 Corinthians 1:9-10 (NLT)

Paul lets us know that even when he thought he was going to die, he relied on the power of God to sustain him.
Maybe God’s design for our lives is not to take away our pain but to use what we have learned to minister into the lives of others.

3) God desires our scars to tell a story to others.

God is honored when our lives are lived out in daily recognition that he is the only one that enables us to get through our day. When our lives are devoted to a need to rely on God, we realize that what is out of our control is under his control.

God uses our scars to tell a story of his love and faithfulness to others.

Scars are not a sign of weakness; they are signs of survival.

There are many hours and days that I wish I had never experienced any of this. I wish I would never had any fear or panic or even anxiety. I wish I had never caused pain or experienced pain; however I understand today that God allows it in my life to remind me of his faithfulness and security, even when I don’t feel very secure. 

So, what about you? Do you have scars in your life, and have pains and hurts and feelings that you don’t’ understand or like. What are you going to do about them? How are you going to allow them to shape you?

There are three things your scars can do:

1) Your scars can paralyze you.

2) Your scars can make you bitter.

3) Your scars can strengthen you.

Scars strengthen you when you embrace them.

“That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 6:10 (NLT)

Are we willing to let God take our scars and use them to bring honor and glory to himself? Are we wiling to allow him control of the areas of our lives that are OUT OF CONTROL?

 Remember to embrace your scars, and remember that God is faithful, God never wastes a hurt, and every scar tells a story.