I was recently listening to a song called Gold by Leeland. Here are the lyrics:
Here in Your presence
All things are made whole
PRAYER
Here in Your presence, Jesus
You take what the enemy
Meant for destruction
And You turn it for Your glory
CHORUS
Healing all our wounds with gold
Healing all our wounds with gold
Making all things beautiful
VERSE 1
We shall behold
Our scars turn gold
REPEAT CHORUS
REPEAT VERSE 1
SPONTANEOUS
He's taking years and years
Of pain and tears
And He's making something beautiful
One day, when I see You, Jesus
I'll touch Your scars
And You'll touch mine
One day, when I see You, Jesus
I'll touch the scars in Your hands
And You'll touch mine
All this suffering, all this pain
Is preparing with a way
It's nothing compared to the glory
That will be revealed to us in You, Christ Jesus
ENDING
You're making all things beautiful again
I encourage you to listen to it during or after reading this blog here today. This song brought me to the passage of scripture where Thomas actually got to touch Jesus’ scars.
“One of the twelve wasn’t present when Jesus appeared to them—it was Thomas, whose nickname was ‘the Twin.’ So the disciples informed him, ‘We have seen the Lord with our own eyes!’ Still unconvinced, Thomas replied, ‘There’s no way I’m going to believe this unless I personally see the wounds of the nails in his hands, touch them with my finger, and put my hand into the wound of his side where he was pierced!’ Then eight days later, Thomas and all the others were in the house together. And even though all the doors were locked, Jesus suddenly stood before them! ‘Peace to you,’ he said. Then, looking into Thomas’ eyes, he said, ‘Put your finger here in the wounds of my hands. Here—put your hand into my wounded side and see for yourself. Thomas, don’t give in to your doubts any longer, just believe!’ Then the words spilled out of his heart—‘You are my Lord, and you are my God!’ Jesus responded, ‘Thomas, now that you’ve seen me, you believe. But there are those who have never seen me with their eyes but have believed in me with their hearts, and they will be blessed even more!’ Jesus went on to do many more miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not even included in this book. But all that is recorded here is so that you will fully believe that Jesus is the Anointed One, the Son of God, and that through your faith in him you will experience eternal life by the power of his name!”
John 20:24-31 TPT
Leeland ends the song with a PRAYER:
Jesus, come have Your glory
Not only in our victory
But come have Your glory, Jesus
In our suffering
In Jesus' mighty name
There is something about the imagery that comes through the lyrics of this song—one day, when I see You, Jesus I'll touch the scars in Your hands, And You'll touch mine. Our scars are not something to hide. They are a story to tell of His glory behind the veil. When seeking restoration, wholeness, and inner healing, there is something about asking the Holy Spirit for guidance from our past wounds—the lost and sometimes stolen moments in our lives. It’s hard to believe God is good when hard things happen to us or we witness injustice done to another. But, I am here to tell you that Jesus came down to earth fully human to feel and experience every feeling and emotion we have. He cries for you. He cries with you. Those moments feel very lonesome. But, I’ve heard other’s stories of how they sought inner healing and received thoughts and impressions of a past memory and saw Jesus there and what really happened in those moments.
Human choice can’t always be blocked, but the Father will turn it all for good if you let Him. So, when your inner narrative tells you a different story, it’s only to block you from His truths. The pain voice speaks louder until you find another voice that can change the narrative. We can and will go through hard things, but hard things change us and remake us. They break us down so we can be rebuilt into our original design. The world has been telling us since the womb who we are, but only the Creator truly knows. When you connect to the Source, you start to find your voice. Scars have a glory element to them when we can see them from the redemption story within. For some, the scars have been words. For others, it’s been physical or emotional or from neglect and abandonment. No matter what it is, it hasn’t been healthy. But God!
The glory of suffering—what is the typical story with these human injustices? Flip the flow and find the story below the surface.
In John 20, Jesus showed His scars and then said, “‘Thomas, don’t give in to your doubts any longer, just believe!’ Then the words spilled out of his heart—‘You are my Lord, and you are my God!’ Jesus responded, ‘Thomas, now that you’ve seen me, you believe.’” I can feel Thomas’ heart in this passage. He was sorry he doubted. He wanted to take it back, but human minds can only comprehend so much. Jesus didn’t speak down to him. He said, just believe. When Jesus revealed something to him, the heart of the man spilled over and out came the words of his pure heart. These are the moments I desire to be a part of; to experience with people the transforming moments from blindness to sight. Insight happens when you get touched by the Mender.
What a day for Thomas! Jesus appeared to him through locked doors. If that wasn’t already a lot, he then was outed in front of the crowd. This was all to make a point and to tell a story—Just Believe!!!
When we can surrender to His healing, the wounds turn to gold, and the story of our scars in our hands will look like gold leafed bowls. Our hands have lines all in them too, so never forget Jesus made those in the secret place. In that secret place, He will show you the more you have always wanted to explore and know. Be patient with yourself. He likes to work slow. For it is best for our minds to process things in time. Bit by bit, inch by inch, you can accomplish a lot.
I hope this message is encouraging to you, my menders. The scars are no reason to feel disqualified. The whole bible is full of stories of unqualified people who get sanctified and burn with a passion to follow His commands. His hands are safe. His voice is tender. His plans are better. This year will be different, but we got through 2020. We can do more than we ever thought we could. So, be of good cheer!
“And He said to her, ‘Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace.’”
Luke 8:48 NKJV
What more can I say? Jesus took the words right out of my mouth. Go in peace!
Until next time,
Stay tender.
Connect to the Mender.
Be a sender.
Amen and amen.
#TheGloryOfSuffering #MyMendedHeart #Inthesendingcomesthemending
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