A man was put in this world to do something.”
–Ernest Haycox (Rim of the Desert)

“The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.”
–John 10:10 (NLT)
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“God will look us over not for medals, or diplomas, or degrees, but for scars.”
–Edward Sheldon

I remember a friend from way back when I was in school. He went to our church and we were good friends. He had a scar on his face and I asked him what happened? He simply said, “a fence ran into him.” Well, life has a way of throwing “fences” at us. Scars may come our way through accidents, or some of them may be earned.
If you’re carrying a scar that means something happened to you. It may mean that you did something dumb, didn’t react in time, or in the midst of battle you were injured. If you have a scar it might mean that you were injured, defeated and have refused to get back in the fight. Or it may mean that you were attacked, were wounded, but you’re back in the fight. Remember, scars are not all physical. They may be mental, emotional, and even spiritual.
I recently read the following about Scott Hamilton. You may know some of his story, of his bouts with cancer and of course his gold medal at the Winter Olympics in 1984. In an interview he said, “I start my day by looking at the way the sun illuminates my scars, because they’re most vivid in natural light. To me, they’re badges of honor.” In speaking of the biggest scar he says, “it represents healing, not illness.”
Scars can be a unifying force. They show a common bond in a common fight. When I taught the leadership portion of my Bible class on “Worldviews”, I used the speech by Henry V.

“He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say ‘To-morrow is Saint Crispian.’
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say ‘These wounds I had on Crispian’s day.’
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he’ll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day.

But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile….”
–William Shakespeare

A scar is a common factor among soldiers. Here is the King saying that on this day whomever fights with him for their country whether they be royalty or commoner with be brothers and one day a year they will show the scars they earned in fighting the enemy.
Some use their scars as an excuse. Others use them to show off. Those who understand the value of scars, will not brag, will not use them to excuse their actions, but will look at them with honor. Jesus showed his scars to Thomas, not to brag, but to win him back to the Kingdom. Perhaps the question is, how do you treat your scars?

I think there is something here, something more than all you see and feel…it’s in the wind… . But you do not know what music is until you have heard the wind in the cedars, or the far-off wind in the pines.”
–Louis L’Amour (Conagher)

“For the Lord is the one who shaped the mountains, stirs up the winds, and reveals his thoughts to mankind. He turns the light of dawn into darkness and treads on the heights of the earth. The Lord God of Heaven’s Armies is his name!”
–Amos 4:13 (NLT)
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“Listen to the wind, wonder what he’s sayin’?
See that will bend, everything is swayin’.
Seems to be a sadness in the sighing of the wind… .”
–Bob Nolan

March! Is the wind howling in your neck of the woods? Remember the old saying March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. So far, it isn’t much wind, at least not heavy. But I’ve been in a few windstorms, tornadoes and hurricanes aside.
It was a few years back. Annie and went camping in the high desert country on the border of Wyoming and Utah. Camp was set up but there was the threat of rain. The skies darkened so we went inside the tent. Sometime in the night the storm broke loose. It rained and the wind did really howl. I remember Annie asking if I thought that the tent might blow away. I told her that it would not blow away because we were in it, but it might come down. The sound of the wind in the pines was not a lullaby, more like Beethoven’s “Fifth.” The next morning, the skies were clear, the tent was standing and we had a good vacation.
I would like a little wind right now. We have had so much rain that we need some dry days to work on the house. If there could be a little wind, things would dry out much faster. Right now everything is muddy, with puddles all over the place. Wind would help them dry up. As a kid, back in Colorado, I can remember that sometimes we would get a Chinook wind. It would come in melting the snow.
But there is something about listening to the wind. It is one of the symbols of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, when the “wind” blows do we listen? He may sound like a “mighty, rushing wind” as He did when the Spirit was poured out upon those in the upper room. He may be a cooling breeze in the midst of a hot day. The question is, do we listen?
Ephesians 4:30 states, “And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.” (NLT) Other versions say, “do not grieve” the Holy Spirit. Is there a “sadness in the sighing of the wind”? When God’s own people follow their discretions instead of following and obeying the Word of God there is sorrow in the Holy Spirit. It would behoove us to seek again our “first love” and listen to the sound of the “Wind.”
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Ponder This: “Lightning does the work; thunder takes the credit.”