Thankful For Scars

When I was a kid, I found lots of opportunities to buck hay. If you don't know what bucking hay is, it's when you walk alongside a flat bed trailer and pick up hay bales out of a field, and throw them on the trailer, then take them to the barn and unload them. Some guys used hooks to pick up the bales, but I always was a fan of grabbing the orange twine and picking them up, then using my knee to lift them up on to the trailer. After grabbing countless bales, and gripping on to twine hundreds of times, my hands developed these thick calluses. I used to think it was cool to take a knife and poke at the callus showing how it didn't hurt, or i'd grab a lighter and see how long I could hold the flame before it hurt too bad.

Hard work produced those calluses, and they made me feel like a superhero.

It's strange how the pain of manual labor gave me calluses that made me feel so strong; but the pain of emotional or mental strain gave me calluses that made me feel so weak. 

I celebrated the scars of hard work, but I was ashamed of the scars that I obtained in my every day living.

I have since changed my mind about that, and I hope to change your mind about it too. 

Whatever scars we acquire during our journey, are proof of not only our strength, but also proof of our ability to carry on when things seem impossible. 

I have scars from loneliness, insecurity, abandonment, shame, fear, and rejection. Each of those came through multiple stories of bad days, ugly people, or bad choices. As a result, I spent a lot of my energy trying to cover up or ignore these scars. 

The thought that I could celebrate the calluses that came from these scars never crossed my mind. 

James 1:2-4 Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows it true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

The beautiful reality is, those difficult times, those hard moments, made me who I am today. Sure, I am by no means perfect, but I am better today than I was a year, or ten years ago. I have grown and learned a lot. 

As much as I may not want to accept it, the times of greatest growth in my life, have come during the times of greatest difficulty. 

I am not sure where you are right now, or what you are facing; but I want to encourage you to consider this idea. Whatever difficult you are currently facing, or hardship you are struggling to recover from; has made you stronger, caused you to grow, and has taught you valuable lessons.

One of the greatest gifts I have learned, is the pain I experienced in the past has made me more aware of others experiencing a similar pain. It has allowed me to help them in their journey. 

How have you learned from your hardships to help others?

What can you do, to become thankful for your scars? 

Serving Takes Courage

I'm not sure if you feel this way too, but there are times when serving others is really hard to do.

Sure, there are many times doing something for someone else gives us that warm gushy feeling, and we really enjoy it; but there are times when serving someone else, sparks an inner war of conflict that seems un-winnable. 

I think there are a plethora of reasons why we struggle to serve others. Sometimes it's a person we aren't really fond of, sometimes the timing is just awful, and sometimes we are in a mood where "nice" isn't really on our radar. 

One of the biggest culprits I have experienced personally, is when the person I am serving doesn't seem very grateful that I am helping them. They ask for help, and I go the extra mile to help them, and their response looks like, "I owed them" rather than, "they appreciate it." I confess, that is hard for me. 

A great quote that helps me with that is, "The best way to see if you truly have a servant's heart, is how you respond when someone treats you like a servant." 

Ouch.

When we boil it all down, serving isn't about us, it's about others. So when people respond in a way that doesn't recognize our service, or if they act like people who aren't worthy of service, that makes it difficult, but it shouldn't change our mind about serving.

Service isn't about the one doing the serving, it's about the one they serve, and more importantly about the one Who has called us to service.

Matthew 20:28 puts it this way, Even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.

Jesus was the greatest servant of all time, and the example we should look to, He called us to serve like He did. 

If there was a ever a person who shouldn't have to serve, if there was ever a people unworthy of service... Long story short, we are without excuse.

So my encouragement to you is this, don't give up on serving. Try to see the beauty and power of service on it's own, detached from the people's response. I believe you will be so glad you did, and God will bless you when you serve.

I Would Die For Them... Maybe

I remember overhearing a conversation between these two guys, a young man, and an older man. The younger man said, "I hope when I get older, I am kind and optimistic like you. I am just so afraid of turning out to be a grumpy old man." The older man's response stuck with me. "Friend, you won't grow up to be a grumpy old man. Grumpy old men, were grumpy young men. When you get older, you just become an older version of who you were as a younger man." 

This concept stuck with me, and I think it applies to many aspects of our lives, but here is the overarching thought I want to share with you today.

We are, and we become, what we practice every day. 

There is no moment when we just miraculously become more grumpy; but there also isn't a moment when we miraculously become more noble, more committed, more kind, or more loving.

I have heard people use the phrase, "I would die for them" many times. Often times it's in a moment when someone is making a dramatic statement to contrast their behavior. For instance, "I may not be real kind or real present for my wife and kids, but I would die for them."

The stark reality is, if you won't give up a TV show to talk to your kids or if you won't miss a football game to go on a date with your wife, you probably aren't going to die for them.

You don't miraculously become someone different in moments of great stress. The truth is, in moments of great stress, your true character shines through.

So here is my encouragement to you. Start today. Work today, apply today, strive today to become who you want to be when you are older, in moments of great stress. 

How do we do that? By leaning into Jesus. 

The first part of James 4:8 says it this way, "Come near to God and He will come near to you."

As we grow closer to God, we simultaneously become more like who God wants us to be, and become more like the person we want to be later in life, and in our present difficult moments.

Don't wait for your miraculous change to come out of nowhere. It doesn't come simply from an elongated amount of time. It comes from a daily commitment to change and grow closer to Jesus.