When I first injured my hand, the ambulance driver said something very profound while gently moving my uninjured hand away from my hand that was bleeding profusely so he could take over applying pressure (because he needed to take my blood pressure). He said, “The body starts to heal the second it’s injured. The bleeding should be stopped by now.”
Isn’t that amazing? And the bleeding had stopped. God has equipped our bodies to respond to injury instantaneously! But, those positive and necessary responses to injury can also be inhibitors to wholeness–like scar tissue!
My hand is healing nicely now, but the necessary scar tissue that formed from collagen fibers repairing my damaged nerves and tendon has now begun to build up and restrict movement of my fingers. So what’s my remedy right now? Movement, massage, and resistance (or controlled stress–hand exercises) that encourages remodeling or flattening of collagen fibers to not hinder my tendons from gliding) is what I’m doing. And man! My exercises hurt!
What God is teaching me….
- Scars. So many people have them and removal of them is a billion dollar industry. But, really, our scars reflect the miraculous–our ability to heal and survive. However, healing is a p..r..o..c..e..s..s that takes time, effort and skill that cannot be rushed, but is worth it beyond today.
- So many of us carry around the scar tissue that helped us heal, but have never recognized it as a build up of resistance that constricts movement and growth, has “triggers” (medically–a build up of small, socialized areas of pain that can cause pain in other areas; symbolically–those things we haven’t addressed but believe we’ve dealt with, which can rear their ugly head at any moment).
- Our emotional scar tissue can only be lessened by movement (stay actively focused on your purpose. You survived, now thrive!), massage (find areas/skills/events/hobbies/people that give you comfort), and resistance or controlled stress countering the scar tissue (prayer, exercise, counseling). God really can remodel us into a different and scarred, but still purposeful version of his reflection if we’re willing. ❤️
