Following the conclusion of Chapter 4 of How Can I Possibly Forgive?, Sara Horn offers five ways to initiate the healing process.
1. Recognize God’s truth over your own. Sara states that dwelling on our scars adds doubt, fear, and plain old lies into our hearts and minds. She emphasizes that “this is not (italics mine) the time to shy away from knowing and reading God’s Word.” God won’t leave us by ourselves to deal with our scars. But we must ask Him for His help and trust Him.
2. Recognize what’s happened to you and what needs to happen going forward. While we have no control over what already has been done to us, we do control our response and what we do to move forward. Our choice is not dependent on our own strength and mind, but on God’s strength.
3. Understand that scars signify healing that’s already started. Sara encourages us to look beyond the scars to what God has in store for us. Don’t limit God!
4. Learn something from your scar. Learning from our scars requires humbling ourselves. 1 Peter 5:6-7 promises that God will lift us up at just the right time.
5. Trust God. Sara notes that this concept sounds simple. Yet trusting God can come with a lot of fear and hesitation. Sara provides the antidote: “Surrender your scars. Let God use them for his purpose and ultimately for his glory and our joy.”
Today’s question: Through God’s power, what steps have you taken to initiate the healing process? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Blame the Other Guy”
