The Scar

February 25, 2008

By Paul Veliquette

In June of 1965 I donned cap and gown, marched across the stage at my high school graduation and ventured into adulthood. I was a very young 18-year-old boy who so wanted to be a man. My future direction was very unclear to me. I was more concerned about acne and the love of my life, Glenda Ellsworth. I had always excelled in math and science so made a decision to enroll at the local community college as chemistry major.

In my second year, I had a life-changing experience. During a lab I was testing a compound by adding a few drops of concentrated nitric acid. Nitric acid is a nasty liquid that requires a great deal of care. As I picked up the dropper bottle, my hand brushed my neighbor’s ring stand, an apparatus used to heat up compounds. It was extremely hot. I dropped the bottle of acid. The stopper flew off and a stream of nitric acid spread over me from the top of my head to about my waist. As I rushed to the eye fountain, I blurted out that I had spilt acid on myself. The room became deathly quiet. The professor immediate doused me with a neutralizer.

Most of my burns were minor. The most shocking part was to see the acid burns on my glasses. They saved my eyes. Because of the intense pain, I did not notice the large damp spot on the leg of my pants. It was a long journey to walk across campus to the nurse’s office. There they found the large acid burn on my leg.

Most of the scars are not noticeable these days except for the large oval-shaped scar on my leg. The pain is gone, but that reminder remains.

Not very long after that incident I decided chemistry was not my thing and began to consider God’s call to pastor. I have reflected from time to time about that painful experience and wondered why it had to happen. I cannot blame it on God, but perhaps He did use it to steer me in His direction for my life.

We all face extremely difficult times. Many leave scars, some visible. What do we do with scars? It is our natural tendency to hide them. It is hard to admit we are scarred. We put on a happy face and say things are super!

But in the body of Christ, scars are to be shared not hidden. They are opportunities to help others avoid or deal with those same types of difficult times. I can point to the scar on my leg and tell a young person, “Be vigilant and careful; be observant of your environment.”

Maybe your marriage fell apart, or you were abused in some form. Perhaps you struggled with an addiction or some other besetting sin. God can use you to rescue someone who is about to make the same blunder. Your scars cry out to others, “Learn from my mistakes, my experience, and keep yourself safe from harm.”

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God” (2 Corinthians 1:3,4, NIV).

You have been specially prepared to comfort others through your own trouble and the victory Christ has brought you.

— Paul Veliquette is pastor of Windsor (Colo.) Assembly of God.