Scar Tissue

I've read it hundreds of times and so have you.

"He restores my soul." Psalm 23:3

This time when I read it, the significance of this statement crashed into me and has been wrecking me ever since.

If He restores my soul, then I NEED restoring.
If He restores my soul, I CAN be healed.
If He restores my soul, He SEES all that needs restoring.
If He restores my soul, He must love me tremendously.

And then an image popped in my mind. Scar tissue. There is nothing soft or smooth or attractive about scar tissue. While it marks a place of healing, it is normally hard and ugly. I have it, you have it, we all are marked with it. It is one of the great miracles of the human body, the ability to heal. But restoration? We don't have that ability. We can not restore ourselves to wholeness. Not our bodies, not our souls.

Our souls are hardened with scar tissue reminding us of the pain and hardship and trials we have faced in this life. Hardened. But God promises us restoration. Wholeness.

He softens us to receive His love.
He heals the hurt so that we can see past the pain and accept Him.
He restores our broken places leaving us free of shame.

Through His power and love, I am restored.

And I can say with David,
"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. "
Psalm 23:6