272 How God Turns Our Deepest Wounds into Sacred Scars

Episode Summary: 

In this episode, I wanted to share with you what brought me to the place where I knew this book was needed, where I knew God was calling me to share my own sacred scars, why I’ve written the book Sacred Scars for you, and what I hope you’ll get out of it. 

Quotables from the episode:

• Sometimes our wounds come at the hands or wounds of others; sometimes we behave in a way that causes or contributes to our wounds; and sometimes there is no obvious explanation for them. But the hope that we have in Jesus is that when we will take our painful wounds and surrender them to the creator of the universe, the very One who knit us in our mother’s womb, we can experience a redemptive scar, a beautiful sacred scar in place of our wounds when we allow God to heal what has hurt us.
• The Hem of His Garment: Reaching Out to God When Pain Overwhelms is about how we hold onto our faith while we are waiting on God for our healing.
• Sacred Scars picks up where The Hem of His Garment left off.
• Sacred Scars is for those who think, I’ve gone through something so bad that it disqualifies me from living the abundant life that Christ came to give; I’ve gone through something so bad or I’ve done something so bad that it disqualifies me from being loved and valued; or I’ve gone through something so bad that it disqualifies me from service to God.
• Sacred Scars was written for that reader, to assure them that there is nothing they have gone through that is beyond the hands of a redemptive God.
• Jesus never gave up, so as a child of God, it’s not in my DNA to give up. The thing that drives me the most is that I’m just not going to let the enemy have that much satisfaction.
• The lies of the enemy is what produces guilt, shame, regret, remorse, isolation, fear. As long as he can take us there because of the wounds that we’ve gone through, as long as we listen to those lies, we will live a defeated life, but Jesus came so we can have victory.
• The only way to experience that victory is to recognize the lies of the enemy and to determine that I’m willing enough to feel the pain to get healing. 
• In over 30 years in private practice, I’ve had thousands of people come into my private practice ashamed to share their deep, dark secret because they feared I would reject them or abandon them or give them a strange look like, “I can’t believe what you just said.” But nothing surprises me anymore.
• What I found, is that when people will share that secret that they are so embarrassed and ashamed of, it doesn’t hold power anymore. Once they bring it out into the light, the enemy loses.
• Wounds are open assaults either on the body or the mind. They are those things that have been injured, abraded, or infected and leave us in a state of pain. When we are wounded, we need healing.
• I love what God does: in the physical body, when you get a scratch or a burn, or an infection, your body automatically sends cells to try to produce collagen to produce a scar. This book is focusing on scars, because once we have a scar, that wound, that painful experience (whether it’s physical, emotional, relational, spiritual) doesn’t hold the same pain that it did when it was an open wound.
• When we will take our wounds to God and let Him heal the wounds, because He’s such a good and redemptive God, He will bring beautiful sacred scars as a reminder not just of the pain we’ve gone through, but of the healing that’s taken place if we’re willing to go on that healing journey.
• God never pries our heart or our hands open. He’s always waiting for us to say, “Okay, Lord, I’m ready.”
• Too often, we’re afraid of the pain of the unknown more than we are the pain of the current discomfort of our injured situation.
• If you will step out and entrust your pain to God, He can bring a beautiful sacred scar.
• We’re all familiar with physical scars but I think it’s also important to recognize that we all carry invisible scars from emotional wounds, relational wounds, spiritual wounds, grief or loss.
• I mistakenly thought that being a doctor would protect me or insulate me from depression or any other mental health disorder, but it doesn’t. Neither does being a Christian.
• The Lord taught me that there was a spiritual root to depression. Previous to that, I had been addressing the physical, the emotional, and the mental, but not the spiritual, because I didn’t know there was one.
• What initially felt like forced rest, I hated, but over time, on bed rest, I came to appreciate that time because it was like my cocooning time alone with God. I didn’t want that time to end.
• She said to me, “Thank you. Thank you for sharing out of your pain, so that I would know that I’m not alone and that if you could make it through your ordeal, I can too.” That is a beautiful sacred scar for a physically and emotionally devastating time in my life. But that is the essence behind the message of Sacred Scars.
• Having gone through depression, I thought that disqualified me from any future ministry for the Lord but He was the one who prompted me to share with others. Sacred scars are when God takes our most devastating circumstance, that we think discounts us or disqualifies us, primarily because we are listening to the lies of the enemy who is the accuser of the brethren and the father of lies, but if we will bring it into the light, into God’s truth, we will realize that what looks impossible to us is not impossible for the God of the universe.
• I pictured Jesus in his resurrected body as whole without scars, but the Lord showed me the passages where Jesus appeared to his disciples he had his scars in his hands and feet.
• Jesus kept his scars and they served such a redemptive purpose. His scars prove that he was who he said he was and that he had done what he said he would do.
• That was such a lightbulb moment for me because I felt like God said, “Just as I have redeemed Jesus’s scars, your scars will have a redemptive purpose too.”
• Now I look at scars differently because scars attest to the healing that has taken place and our scars are an opportunity to share with others the goodness and faithfulness of God.
• More than anything, what I want you to know is that those things in your past that you are so ashamed of, embarrassed of, feel guilty about or remorseful, that cause you to isolate and hide from other people, those are the very things that God wants to come in and heal and show you that he not only wants to but is capable of bringing beauty for your ashes and sacred scars for your wounds.
• What you have to recognize is that we have to be willing to feel the pain to heal it, and we have to be willing to step forward and say “I want that healing” because God isn’t going to pry it out of our hands or our hearts, but if we will surrender to Him, He will bring a redemptive purpose for your wounds and beautiful sacred scars.

Scripture References:

• John 16:33 NIV “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

 

Recommended Resources: 

• Sacred Scars: Resting in God’s Promise That Your Past Is Not Wasted by Dr. Michelle Bengtson 
• The Hem of His Garment: Reaching Out to God When Pain Overwhelms by Dr. Michelle Bengtson
• YouVersion 5-Day Devotional Reaching Out To God When Pain Overwhelms  
• Today is Going to be a Good Day: 90 Promises to Start Your Day Off Right by Dr. Michelle Bengtson, winner of the AWSA 2023 Inspirational Gift Book of the Year Award, the Christian Literary Awards Reader’s Choice Award in four categories, and the Christian Literary Awards Henri Award for Devotionals
• YouVersion 7-Day Devotional, Today is Going to be a Good Day
• YouVersion 7-Day Devotional, Today is Going to be Another Good Day
• Breaking Anxiety’s Grip: How to Reclaim the Peace God Promises by Dr. Michelle Bengtson
• Breaking Anxiety’s Grip Free Study Guide
• Free 7-Day YouVersion Bible Reading Plan for Breaking Anxiety’s Grip
• Hope Prevails: Insights from a Doctor’s Personal Journey Through Depression by Dr. Michelle Bengtson, winner of the Christian Literary Award Reader’s Choice Award
• Hope Prevails Bible Study by Dr. Michelle Bengtson, winner of the Christian Literary Award Reader’s Choice Award
• Trusting God Through Cancer 1
• Trusting God Through Cancer 2
• Revive & Thrive Women's Conference
• Subdue Stress and Anxiety: Fifteen Experts Offer Comprehensive Tools in Ten Minutes a Day. Use my link plus discount code BENG99 to save $90 on course (course will be $99.)
• Free Download: How To Fight Fearful/Anxious Thoughts and Win

 

Social Media Links for Guest and Host:

Connect with Carolyn Freeman:

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For more hope, stay connected with Dr. Bengtson at:

Order Book Breaking Anxiety’s Grip / Order Book Hope Prevails  /  Website  /  Blog  /  Facebook / Twitter (@DrMBengtson)  /  LinkedIn  /  Instagram / Pinterest / YouTube

Guest:

Carolyn Freeman is the Founder and President of Impact Coaching Ministries. She’s a Certified Professional Life Coach, author, speaker, former nurse and counselor. Her life verse is Jeremiah 29:11. She calls it a privilege and joy to walk with others into God’s healing just as others walked with her into healing, wholeness, and a whole new purpose and passion. 

 

Hosted By: Dr. Michelle Bengtson
Audio Technical Support: Bryce Bengtson