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“My troubles turned out all for the best – they forced me to learn from your textbook.”  Psalm 119:71(The Message)

 About 35 years ago, I was involved in a car wreck.  One that left me with a lot of scars.  One hundred and forty-four stitches across my head, a cracked sternum, broken knee and ankle just to name a few. I was in route to a job interview when out of nowhere comes this truck on the wrong side of the road.  Healing was long and painful. There were days that I didn’t want to move at all because of how I felt.  But one thing the doctors kept stressing to me was the importance of movement.  Because inactivity would only increase inflammation, increasing the chances of muscles dying and increasing the likelihood of me becoming unable to walk at all. To manage the pain without becoming too dependent on medication, I started focusing on holistic methods.  Learning more about how the body can heal itself through what we put in it (clean eating) and the importance of regular exercise.

In the spiritual, mental, emotional realm there’s been many things that have come at me head on and crushed me (just like that truck).  I’ve had people that I’ve loved abuse, abandon or betray me.  Leaving me more battered than that truck ever did. The emotional pain was almost too great to endure some days.

I never thought I would be thankful for the wreck.  But going through that traumatic event helped me to understand first-hand the importance of not living by my feelings.  Even though I was in pain in the mornings, I still had to get up and move.  Understanding the importance of not giving into how I was feeling but rather focusing on the truth – which was my body needed me to move.  I needed the physical therapy exercises to heal, even if I didn’t feel like doing them.  And the simple truth, after I did the exercises (even though I may have been in pain, I also felt better).

My physical scars have helped me grow through the darkest of my spiritual battles.  Regardless of how much emotional pain I’m in, I know I need to spend time in the Word every morning preparing my heart. I need to talk things over with Jesus daily.  I need to make steps forward each day in my spiritual journey.  Just like my physical muscles will atrophy if I don’t move, so will my spiritual muscles. If I give in to how I’m feeling, emotional pain will only get worse, not better.

The spiritual battles have pushed me to study God’s Word deeper. Not being satisfied with just Sunday morning preaching.  I didn’t want to get hooked on anything but Jesus to help with me with the spiritual/emotional pain.

“Father I thank you for the scars that have driven me closer to you.”

For His Glory,

Laura Holmes (www.ephraimministries.org)
TRBC Women’s Life