I took my college daughter and flew to Florida for a week with my sister and parents. Normally it's good to take a break in the middle of winter, but when it's below zero and blizzards, it's even better to go to Florida. We would call home and the wind-chill would be quite below zero and we were trying hard not to rub it in sitting in the sun on the beach. Mother and Dick live in a retirement community and one day we went to Shalom Park which is a part of the development. It's designed to be a peaceful place for thought, beauty and toward the south side of the park they had a mediation walkway; I believe it's called a Labyrinth. You go in one way and continue the entire walk. This walk had little signs with different sayings about nature, peace, thoughts of the heart and statements to make you think about your life. We weren't taking it too seriously because we were just having too much fun, but I did take pictures and one of the parts really hit home; the wounded tree. The first sign was right below a tree with a very ugly knot and growth on the side.
The sign said,
" The wounded heart tree. What may have caused such a wound? All of us are wounded, even the greatest among us. Notice how this tree still stands strong. How did this tree learn to deal with his hard times?"
Looking at the tree you see the huge trunk and then about 10 feet up is the gnarled knot and beyond that the tree resumed it's growth and was at least 40 feet tall. As you walked past the tree on the other side there was another sign. This one was what touched me the most. As you looked at the tree from where the sign was placed it was as if nothing had happened to the tree. You could not see even a small difference from that side. The sign said,
"Can you position yourself in such a way as to not see the wound? Is that how we as people choose to show the world our wounds? In so doing are we not withholding the lessons of life from them? Isn't it in overcoming our adversities from which our strength and resolve drives roots deeper into the ground?"
Two thoughts come to mind; number one is he is right and number two is he is wrong. How he is right is that we need to learn from our wounds. We need to grow through it and keep growing. The wounds teach us about our selves, our hearts and our relationship with God.
How he is wrong is though we need to let others know of the wounds in our lives and show them how we have overcome them, so many times we are proud of our wounds and position ourselves so that others see only the wounds and not the growth. We want sympathy, special treatment, attention, spotlights and pats on the back. Using our wounds to teach others how to grow is healthy. Using our wounds to benefit ourselves is self centered. I would much rather meet someone who is growing tall and strong, the other side of the tree and then find out later after I have learned to love and respect their walk with God that they had a wound that made them grow through it rather than meet someone with a walking wound and that's all I see is the wound. God wants us to persevere. That doesn't mean ignore the wounds, that means grow through them. That means when people see us, they see a strong, tall tree. Eventually there will come a time when hearts open up and we show others our wounds.
Romans 5:3
"And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations (wounds) knowing that tribulation (wounds) produce perseverance;
and perseverance, character; and character hope."
So when you look at people, I pray that you see where God has led them and what God has done in their lives; eventually they may share the wounds and the valleys along the way that God has led them through. And always be willing to show your wounds when it's appropriate to those who can benefit from them. It's a great feeling to be struggling and someone you love comes along side and shares that they too have been there and God led them to be stronger in their faith.
