Eyebrows

1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

Am I the only one who gets great satisfaction when I'm plucking my eyebrows and I get the whole thing by the root.  That just thrills my soul.  It's the little things that tend to make me happy and that is a little thing.  While I was plucking my eyebrows this morning I was reminded of a strange truth.  My left eyebrow has to be maintained more consistently than my right one.  Why? Because I have a scar that runs at an angle up from my eyebrow and if I don't maintain the eyebrow on that side it would be very challenged and grow with a v shape to it.  Not only that but thanks to my genetics I feel quite certain it would just grow straight across and I would have a wonderful unibrow. 

This scar made me think though.  It has been there since I was small thanks to a run in with a coffee table.  Considering it's size it was probably quite large early on in life but over the years it has faded considerably.  It's always been a part of me and over the years I've adapted my eyebrows to accept it and keep things on my face in a relatively smooth flow.  Regretfully it is not the only scar I have.  There's one under my chin from jumping off the side of pool backwards and not quite clearing the edge.  One on my hand from an iron and of course the large one from the birth of my two children. 

Some of my scars are visible to anyone who sees me - if they pay attention - but some scars aren't as obvious.  This reminded me that many of us carry scars that no one ever sees.  The scars that mark our soul and our heart with crisscross patterns and puckers and red bruised areas.  Some of those scars shape who we become and how we interact with the world.  They are the ones that can keep us living in fear. 

I'm currently reading the book "Killing Jesus" and it is a wonderful historical look at the life of Christ.  The last chapter I read was specifically about the beating and events that led up to the actual placement on the cross.  To read the vivid details reminded me that there were scars on Jesus that we don't think about.  I know for myself the hands and feet and side are the ones that I think of.  But He would have had a mess of scars on his back and on His forehead from the scourging and the crown of thorns.  He suffered unbearable pain and death - willingly - lovingly giving Himself so the horrible people who killed Him could be with Him in eternity. 

What do my scars say about me?  Am I bitter, angry, fearful or full of distrust because of my scars.  I sometimes lean towards that fear and distrust.  It's an ongoing battle in the spiritual world that I can only fight on my knees.  I pray that you will not let your scars hold you back but let them be a part of what God uses in you to reach out to someone else who is just feeling a similar injury.  I think that's why God sometimes lets us break and scar - so we can show how He can make us flawless and allows us the ability to comfort someone else.