And there it is — the Grand Canyon! I took a 5 ½ hour hike in a 106° heat wave to obtain this view, but it was worth every step. Everything from cell phones to Nikons were rapidly snapping photos trying to capture the beauty and the moment. Yet everyone seemed to mutter the same sentiment: “I know these photos will never do this justice.”
I was surveying the breathtaking beauty as far as my eye could see when a quiet inner conversation with God broke out.
“Did you see the mountains coming into the park?”
I replied in thought, “The mountains coming in were beautiful.”
He continued, “What about these mountains in front of you?”
I replied, “I’m speechless. The awesomeness and pure grandeur is beyond anything I could’ve ever imagined!”
He then framed the experience in a manner I will never forget. “What you see are scarred mountains. It is only after the scarring that the beauty that lies beneath the mountain can clearly be seen.”
Okay, that was every bit as much a mind blower as the intense beauty I was surveying. And yet, there it is! We all have had emotional scarring of one type or another. There is no doubt that issues and problems we faced in the past have left their mark. Sometimes we feel jagged, uneven, or just lost in the vastness of the emotionally barren land.
But given patience, time, love, and God’s direction, beauty that we never thought existed, strength we never thought we had, and a new awesome story we never thought could exist can emerge. Not one person on that ridge looking out over the canyon said, “Look at that that scarred mountain.” They mostly just looked in awe and said, “Wow!”
My wife described it best: “Scarred by trauma, yes. New life grows amidst the layers creating something more beautiful than before. And in the midst, a heart, the heart of God and His love for you.”
We all have scars. It can be part of our beauty if we allow it to be.
Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
